Entered  according  to  Act  ot  Congress,  in  the  year  18G4,  by  LINDLEY  SPRING,  in 
the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  tho  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


A  LECTURE 

DKLIVKRED  ON 

THE  4th  OF  AUGUST,  1SG4  (FAST-DAY), 

AT  TUK 

COOPER  INSTITUTE,  NEW  YORK. 

BY  LINDLEY  SPRING. 

•*  There's  none  ever  feared 
.That  the  truth  should  be  heard, 
But  they  whom  the  truth  would  indict" 


There  is  in  the  land  a  large  class  of  people,  who,  be- 
fore,, the  war  begun,  were  busy  conspirators  against 
the  Union  ;  they  hated  the  flag ;  denounced  the  Consti- 
tution, as  a  league  with  hell  and  a  covenant  with  death  ; 
boastfully  resisted  and  practically  annulled  laws  which 
were  passed  to  give  effect  to  its  fundamental  condi- 
tions. Their  sickly  patriotism  could  not  stand  alone — 
all  at  once,  as  at  the  blast  of  a  trumpet,  it  sprung  up, 
a  prodigy  of  strength  and  demonstration. 

Moved  by  the  novelty  of  their  sensations,  stung  by 
remorse  for  past  delinquencies,  our  model  patriots  now 
work  wonders  ;  wrapped  in  the  full  drapery  of  "  hate's 
polluted  rag"  they  strut  the  tragic  stage  and  spout 
their  part — and  spout  it  well : 
1 


2 


':  Let  mc  alone,  good  Syphax,  I'll  conceal 
My  thoughts  in  passion  ('tis  the  surest  way), 
I'll  bellow  ont  for  Rome,  and  for  my  country — 
And  mouth  at  Caesar  'till  I  shake,  the  Senate  ; 
Your  cold  hypocrisy's  a  stale  device — 
A  worn-out  trick— would'st  thou  be  thought  in  earnest? 
Clothe  thy  feigned  zeal  in  rage,  in  fire,  in  fury." 

These,  mainly,  clamor  for  continual  war ;  at  times, 
they  call  for  peace,  but  they  call  in  accents  which  "  blab 
the  heart's  malice." 

Their  Peace  is  a  fury— she  of  the  dripping  sword 
and  blood-dyed  raiment.  Discord  and  revenge  attend 
her  ;  death  and  destruction  mark  her  progress  ;  flam- 
ing villages  ;  wasted  fields  ;  regions  where  not  a 
happy  human  voice  is  heard,  where  nothing  is,  but  la- 
mentation and  mourning,  woe  and  bitterness,  or  the 
silence  of  the  grave — these  are  her  consolation.  She 
is  wedded  to  perpetual  hate  ;  the  spoils  of  subjugation 
and  captivity  are  her  dowry,  and  carnage  is  her  bridal 
feast. 

Such  is  the  Peace  they  invoke. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  any  extravagant  ardor  of  self- 
devotion  at  the  altar  of  our  country,  much  less  to  this 
newly  hatched,  but  full-fledged,  loyalt}',  which,  like  a 
brood  of  greedy  chickens,  goes  cheeping  around  the 
public  crib. 

Sincere  and  affectionate  regard  for  the  land  of  our 
birth,  our  ancestors,  and  our  graves,  for  the  civil  insti- 
tutions which  have  secured  so  many  and  so  great  bene- 
fits, is  natural,  nay  more,  it  is  inevitable. 

The  same  spirit,  blended  with  a  sense  of  pride  and 
exultation,  we  may  fairly  be  supposed  to  cherish  toward 
the  whole  country,  its  affecting  history  and  traditions, 
its  great  achievements,  its  beneficent  institutions,  its 
venerable  names. 

In  this  connection  we  can  not 'but  remember,  that 
the  people  against  whom  we  now  wage  a  war  of  almost 
unmitigated  ferocity,  have  peculiar  claims  on  our  for- 


QUA*? 


bcarancc  and  consideration  ;  that  they  are  our  breth- 
ren, the  descendants  of  those  very  men  who,  in  closest 
fellowship  with  our  ancestors,  wrote  the  history  of  this 
nation  with  their  swords,  sealed  our  political  redemp- 
tion with  their  blood  ;  whose  wisdom,  self-devotion, 
sufferings,  and  courage  secured  our  liberties  and  estab- 
lished this  great  nation.  But  for  them,  where  would 
have  been  our  country?  Where,  this  very  day,  our 
power  to  wage  a  merciless  crusade  against  their 
children  ?  Even  now  we  call  them  "  fathers,"  and  do 
not  blush. 

According  to  such  old-fashioned  notions  as  these,  we 
claim  to  love  our  country  ;  but  we  respectfully  decline 
all  title  to  that  raging  patriotism  which,  like  the  cur- 
rency of  the  day,  carries  all  its  security  on  its  face, 
pays  only  in  promises,  and  is  chiefly  used  to  gull  the 
people. 

The  Peace  we.  invoke  is  a  very  different  character 
from  that  which  has  just  been  described. 

Our  Peace  is  a  heaven-born,  heaven  descended  Grace; 
her  countenance  is  beautiful  as  the  morning  ;  her  rai- 
ment is  white  as  the  snow  ;  she  carries  the  olive  branch 
in  her  hand  ;  and  the  dove  flies  securely  to  her  breast; 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity  are  her  handmaids;  unity  and 
concord,  life,  light,  and  prosperity  attend  her  steps 4 
along  her  path  the  wilderness  blossoms  as  the  rose, 
and  the  waste  places  smile  ;  cities  rise  up  to  do  her 
reverence,  and  the  ripe  fields  bow  their  heads  ;  the 
land  is  full  of  pl<  nty  ;  wisdom  exalteth  the  nation  ; 
all  the  people  rejoice  and  shout  together  :  "  Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to- 
ward men." 

Solomon  says,  *  It  is  an  honor  for,  a  man  to  cease 
from  strife,  but  every  fool  will  be  meddling." 

The  professed  object  of  tins  war  is,  to  restore  the 
Union. 

If  the  means  employed  obviously  defeat  the  end,  the 


4 


reason  for  employing  them  ceases,  and  the  means 
ought  to  cease. 

The  case  is  too  sad  for  mif  th,  or  we  might  venture 
to  be  a  little  mirthful  over  the  absurdity,  of  an  at- 
tempt to  secure  a  union  of  equals,  of  freemen,  friends 
— a  union  of  consent  and  self-government — by  force  ; 
especially  when  that  force  is  so  exerted  as  to  ex- 
tinguish every  sentiment  necessary  to  such  a  condi- 
tion, and  provoke  those  which  are  repugnant  to  its 
existence. 

A  union  of  force  and  free-will  constitutes  a  hybrid, 
which,  if  not  sterile,  can  breed  monsters  only. 

The  war  has  been  going  on  for  more  than  three 
years,  and  every  intelligent,  candid  observer  of  events 
feels  that  it  has  utterly  failed  of  any  substantial  re- 
sults tending  to  a  restoration  of  the  Union  ;  feels  that 
restoration  to  be  a  great  deal  farther  off  to-day  than  it 
was  the  day  the  first  fleet  lay  off  Charleston  harbor, 
the  day  the  first  hostile  foot  pressed  the  soil  of  Vir- 
ginia. 

Maryland,  conquered  before  she  had  time  to  rise, 
lies  a  captive  bound  ;  the  form  of  union  is  there — an 
abject,  mutilated,  disfigured  form  indeed,  but  the 
soul  has  fled. 

Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  large  por- 
tions of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Virginia  have  been 
"restored" — say,  rather,  desolated,  converted  into  hos- 
tile camps  ;  but  is  there  union  ?  Have  you  made 
friends  or  enemies  ?  Such  questions  mock  us  ;  laugh 
at  our  folly,  and  deride  our  expectations. 

Even  while  we  speak,  over  those  western  fields  the 
terrible  conflict  is  renewed;  the  subjugated  have  risen. 
Again  the  whirlwind  sweeps  northward,  its  thunder 
shakes  the  Capitol.  And  what  does  it  prove  ?  It  proves 
that,  to  the  freemen  of  these  United  States,  there  is  no 
middle  ground  bejtween  Liberty  and  Death. 

The  real  object  of  the  war  is  not  the  restoration  of 


5 


the  Union  ;  but  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  overthrow 
of  State  rights,  and  the  creation  of  a  military  govern- 
ment. 

We  are  becoming  more  and  more  familiar  with  the 
conditions  of  the  contest ;  one  by  one,  all  flimsy  pre- 
texts are  thrust  aside,  and  the  original,  unchanged, 
logical  purpose  stands  disclosed  in  all  its  ghastly 
features  of  submission  or  extermination. 

Submission  we  have  made  impossible,  except  on 
terms  that  no  freeman  should  ever  have  proposed,  and 
no  freeman  can  ever  accept. 

To  make  subjects,  slaves,  dependents  on  our  bounty 
for  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  of  whole 
communities,  a  race  of  people,  our  equals  and  former 
fellow-citizens,  were  in  us,  not  political  murder  mere- 
ly, but  political  suicide.  We  have  no  fear  that  it  can 
be  done.    What  then  ?    Extermination  ? 

Do  they  know,  those  who  use  this  word  so  glibly, 
the  meaning  of  it  ?  Have  they  fathomed  its  depths  ? 
Explored  its  horrors  ?  Made  an  estimate  of  its  diffi- 
culties ?    Nay,  mure,  thank  God,  of  its  impossibilities  ? 

This  is  not  the  Dark  Ages,  nor  are  these  a  little, 
feeble,  unarmed  band  of  fugitives  of  the  Apennines; 
but  eight  millions  of  free  people — a  people  accustomed 
to  liberty  and  the  use  of  arms,  courageous,  and  war- 
like. They  inhabit  a  territory  of  more  than  a  million 
and  a  half  of  square  miles  ;  a  vast  region  every  way 
defensible  by  nature  and  art.  They  have  the  best  of 
military  leaders,  all  the  appliances,  arms,  and  muni- 
tions of  war;  and  are  inspired  by  every  sentiment  cal- 
culated to  stimulate  their  zeal  and  invigorate  their 
resistance.    They  can  not  be  subjugated. 

Shall  history  teach  us  nothing  l{ 

Philip  of  Spain,  the  mightiest  monarch  of  his  age, 
with  all  his  power,  was  unable  to  subdue  the  Nether- 
lands. There  were — high  military  genius,  unlimited, 
resources  in  men  and  money,  veteran  armies,  a  fierce 


6 


courage,  bitter  religious  hatred,  against  a  handful  of 
people,  a  petty  country,  a  mere  plain  without  forests  or 
mountain  defenses  ;  hut  that  handful  of  people  was 
superior  to  all  the  powers  of  despotism  ;  for  it  was 
sustained  by  stout  hearts,  a  united  purpose,  an  indomi- 
table will,  the  resolution  to  be  free  or  die!  Against 
such  defenses  those  proud  armies  dashed  themselves 
in  vain,  even  as  the  waters  of  the  German  Ocean  dash 
against  the  dikes  of  Holland.  The  cruel  struggle 
lasted  many  years  ;  it  was  conducted  much  after  the 
present  fashion  ;  but  those  rebels  maintained  fheir 
liberty,  and,  in  due  time,  Spain  herself  was  made  to 
feel  the  invader's  wasting  sword. 

Fifty  years  ago,  Poland,  unhappy  Poland,  was 
stricken  down,  and  divided  as  a  spoil  to  her  con- 
querors; yet  Poland,  weltering  in  blood,  struggles  on, 
and,  but  yesterday,  threatened  to  involve  all  Europe  iu 
her  cause. 

Greece  saw  her  cities  burned,  her  fields  laid  waste, 
her  people  slaughtered,  her  youth  sold  into  captivity, 
her  virgins  made  the  inmates  of  some  Turkish  harem; 
yet  Greece  survives,  and  her  cruel  master  owes  his 
existence  to  the  jealousy  of  rival  nations,  and  not  to 
his  own  strength. 

The  thirteen  colonies  threw  off  the  yoke  of  Great 
Britain.  It  was  another  'mighty  nation  against  another 
handful  of  people.  There  was  no  great  oppression;  but 
our  fathers  resolved  to  be  free,  to  render  their  children 
free,  and  free  they  became. 

The  consideration  of  this  subject  calls  to  mind  cases 
simil.ir,  almost  innumerable.  The  most  affecting,  in- 
structive, and  ennobling  pages  of  history  are  those 
which  narrate  their  story.  But, 

Suppose  we  succeed  in  our  project,  what  shall  we 
gain  ? 

We  shall  gain  a  desolated  South. 

We  .shall  gain  a  race  of  freed  blacks  ;  which,  ac- 


7 


.cording  to  all  experience,  soon  returns  to  its  condition 
of  native  barbarism,  whenever  able  to  cimsult  its  in- 
clinations. 

We  shall  gain  a  still  greater  national  debt,  which 
must  be  either  repudiated  to  the  rflin  of  thousands,  or 
sustained  by  a  system  of  the  most  oppressive  tax- 
ation. 

We  shall  gain  a  distracted  country,  a  subverted 
government,  a  great  standing  arm}',  and  a  master. 

We  shall  gain  an  inheritance  of  hatred,  revenge,  and 
perpetual  enmity  ;  the  reproach  and  contempt  of  the 
civilized  world. 

What  shall  we  lose  ? 

We  shall  lose  our  most  profitable  neighbors  and 
best  ^customers — our  natural  friends  and  allies  ;  we 
shall  luse  years  upon  years  of  prosperous  industry 
and  intercourse  ;  we  shall  lose  our  own  self-respect, 
and  the  respect  of  mankind  ;  and  we  shall  lose  our 
liberties. 

In  the  language  of  one  of  the  placards  of  the  times, 
Will  it  pay 

That  the  real  object  of  the  war  is  the  destruction  of 
slavery  many  deny  in  terms,  but  affirm  in  effect,  by 
saving  that  slavery  is  the  cause  of  the  war.  and  that 
there  can  be  n  >  peace  until  it  is  abolished. 

Such  an  argument  as  this  would  justify  David  for 
putting  Uriah  in  the  front  of  the  battle,  that  he  might 
peaceably  enjoy  Bathsheba  ;  or  Ahab,  for  compassing 
the  deatn  of  Naboth,  that  he  might  possess  hisJ  vine- 
yard in  quiet. 

It  was  the  reasoning  of  the  wolf  at  the  brook  :  the 
lamb  muddied  the  water,  therefore  he  devoured  it. 

It  is  a  highwayman's  plea,  and  would  justify  him  in 
taking  that  gold  which  was  the  cause  of  temptation, 
violence,  and  crime. 

It  is  the  flimsy  excuse  of  covctonsncss,  jealousy,  and 
intermeddling. 


8 


Slavery  does  not  meddle  with  us,  but  we  meddle 
with  it. 

Naboth  did  not  meddle  with  Ahab  ;  but  Ahab  med- 
dled with  Naboth,  for  he  coveted  his  vineyard,  the 
inheritance  of  his  fathers,  to  have  it  for  a  garden. 

The  illegality  and  injustice  of  a  war  for  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  this  country  has  been  often  and  fully  dis- 
cussed, the  points  are  few,  plain,  conclusive,  and 
familiar.  The  argument  may  be  considered  closed  ;  we 
do  not  propose,  at  this  time,  to  open  it. 

To  those  who  seek  an  apology  for  supporting  the 
war,  in  the  condition  of  things  it  has  produced  ;  we 
answer  : 

That  which  in  the  beginning  was  wrong,  no  results 
proceeding  therefrom,  no  length  of  time,  can  make 
right. 

To  those  actuated  by  antipathies  of  race  and  the 
jealousies  of  labor,  nothing  more  need  be  said  than  that 
such  motives  confess  the  crime.  9 

Those  who  are  moved  by  philanthropic  considera- 
tions, if  any  such  there  can  be,  had  better  direct  their 
attention  to  some  quarter  where  they  would  be  more 
highly  appreciated,  or  more  necessary  ;  where  there 
would  not  be  such  a  glaring  violation  of  plighted  faith, 
the  obligations  of  good  fellarwship  and  good  neighbor- 
hood ;  and  where  their  experiments  would  be  attended 
with  less  disastrous  consequences.  ' 

There  is  Africa,  for  instance,  probably  worse  off  to- 
day than  ever  she  was  ;  no  very  disastrous  consequences 
would  be  likely  to  attend  an  amiable  crusade  in  that 
direction,  except  to  the  crusaders. 

Or  Great  Britain  ;  she  has  no  special  claims  on  our 
gratitude,  or  good  faith,  or  good  fellowship.  There  are 
to-day  millions  of  her  subjects,  in  mines,  factories,  and 
workshops,  held  to  a  perpetual  slavery  worse  a  great 
deal  than  that  of  this  country. 

There  is  Siberia,  too,  among  the  exiles.  Doubtless 


9 


our  illustrious  Russian  ally  would  highly  appreciate  and 
reward  any  benevolent  designs  in  that^irection.  Or, 
if  our  philanthropists  must  be  doing,  andwill  rest  satis- 
fied with  the  tame  excitement  of  hunting  on  their  own 
grounds,  they  can  find,  all  around  them,  lying  in  their 
own  grease,  an  unctuous  collection  of  freed  negroes, 
who,  under  the  bland  influences  of  liberty,  are  fast  dy- 
ing out  ;  unless  soon  caught,  there  will  be  nothing  left 
of  them  to  catch,  except  the  scrofula. 

The  cost  of  the  war  is  a  reason  why  it  should  cease. 

The  consumption  of  human  life  is  enormous,  whole 
armies  have  been  slaughtered  in  the  field,  or  sent  to 
the  hospitals  to  die  ;  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands 
maimed  for  life,  or  incurably  diseased.  And  how  shall 
we  count  the  childless,  the  widows,  the  orphans,  and 
those  otherwise  left  destitute  ?  We  can  obtain  nothing 
which  will  compensate  for  such  losses  and  bereave- 
ments as  these. 

The  cost  in  other  respects  is  ruinous.  The  money, 
labor,  and  produce  of  the  whole  country,  parted  with 
for  a  paper  consideration,  to  be  consumed,  fired  away 
in  powder  and  shot. 

Thus,  while  destroying  the  substance  of  the  South, 
we  waste  our  own — burn  the  candle  at  both  ends. 
Surely  never  were  people  so  busy  in  the  work  of  self- 
destruction,  nor  so  mad. 

Our  mode  of  warfare  is  unchristian,  inexcusable,  dis- 
graceful, and  furnishes  a  very  strong  reason  why  the 
war  should  cease. 

We  have  fought  their  armies  with  all  our  might — 
we  have  attacked  and  taken  their  fortified  and  defended 
places.    This  is,  at  any  rate,  manly  ;  it  is  war. 

We  have  declared  contraband  all  the  munitions  and 
material  of  war,  and  all  supplies  destined  for  their 
armies  and  strongholds.  This,  too,  is  war  ;  but  much 
have  we  done  which  is  not  war,  but  barbarism. 

We  have  declared  contraband  the  subsistence  of  the 
1* 


10 


whole  people,  armed  and  unarmed,  combatants  and 
non-combatanjp,  young  and  old,  male  and  female  ;  and 
all  medicines,  even  chloroform,  the  gift  of  humanity  to 
man's  misery,  and  salt,  so  indispensable  to  every  family. 
Yes,  some  of  the  greatest  conquests  of  the  war  have 
been  over  this  highly  explosive  material. 

Doubtless,  the  water  of  the  running  brooks,  the  rain, 
the  light  and  the  air  of  Heaven  would  be  declared  con- 
traband, if  there  were  not  some  doubts  of  the  efficacy  of 
the  embargo. 

Nor  is  this  all  ;  we  have  done  much  more  and  much 
worse. 

We  have  made  war  upon  the  whole  people  without 
discrimination,  and  against  their  property  of  every 
description.  We  have  destroyed  their  landmarks, 
their  public  records,  deeds  and  other  evidences  of 
property.  We  have  cut  down  their  fruit  trees  and 
trees  of  shade  and  ornament  about  their  dwellings, 
destroyed  their  gardens,  fences^  and  growing  crops  ; 
their  machinery  and  implements  of  agriculture.  What 
could  be  taken  away  has  been  taken  away,  even  to 
the  milch  cow  for  the  family  and  the  horse  for  the 
mill. 

We  have  spoiled  them  of  their  wearing  apparel  and 
jevels,  of  the  furniture  of  their  houses,  of  their  family 
plate  and  pictures  ;  even  of  that  sacred  fund  which 
the  mother  hoards  in  secret  for  pious  uses,  of  their  pub- 
lic libraries,  their  works  of  art  and  science. 

We  have  carried  indiscriminately,  fire,  famine,  plun- 
der, and  destruction  over  a  great  extent  of  their  country. 

We  have  burned  their  defenseless  and  undefended 
towns,  villages,  and  isolated  dwellings,  driving  the 
terror-stricken  and  impoverished  inhabitants  to  the 
woods  and  fields  for  shelter.  Nor  have  we  spared  those 
asylums  for  the  insane,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the  blind, 
which  even  savages  hold  sacred. 

We  have  violated  and  destroyed  their  churches  and 


II 


their  graves — done  all  iii  our  power  to  expose  their 
helpless  families  to  the  worst  horrors  of  a  servile  insur- 
reetion. 

We  have  made  war  on  women,  taken  them  prisoners, 
treated  them  brutally,  held  them  as  hostages  for  negro 
raiders,  under  threats  of  ignominious  death. 

We  directed  the  surprise  of  -their  capital  city, 
«*not  for  occupation,  but  to  have  it  destroyed,  by  fire  of 
the  incendiary,  its  unarmed  people  abandoned  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  a  fierce  soldiery,  and  their  rulers 
slain. 

We  seduce  slaves  to  take  up  arms  against  their  mas- 
ters, under  delusive  promises  of  a  freedom  which  they 
can  never  enjoy  ;  those  whom  vvc  can  not  seduce  we 
compel  and  restrain — these  soldiers,  if  such  they  should 
be  called,  we  thrust  into  the  field  or  the  fort,  subject  to 
more  than  the  ordinary  perils  of  war — knowing  full 
well,  that,  of  necessity  and  by  the  law  of  nations,  the 
Southern  people  can  not  regard  such  soldiers  as  ordi- 
nary prisoners  of  war.  We  know,  top,  that  such  sol- 
diers, when  not  cowards,  are  as  wild  beasts,  ignorant  of 
civilized  warfare,  au4,  we  also  know  that  this  tends  to 
aggravate  the  horrors  of  the  war  out  of  all  proportion 
to  any  benefit  that  can  be  expected  from  it. 

These  things  we  have  done,  to  the  degradation  of 
the  profession  of  arms,  without  necessity,  for  we  are 
twenty  millions  of  free  white  people  against  our  adver- 
sary's eight  millions.  We  receive  constant  accessions 
by  foreign  emigration  ;  they  do  not. 

We  pause  over  this  enumeration  of  particulars  with 
horror  and  shame  ;  no  wonder  the  people  of  France  call 
us  monsters. 

Is  this  the  nineteenth  century — and  this  the  boasted 
and  boastful  republic  of  America,  the  home 'of  civiliza- 
tion, religion,  and  humanity  ? 

Is  the  world  upon,  its  backward  march,  and  do  these 
vandals  of  the  North  lead  the  way  ? 


12 


If  such  uses  as  these  are  justifiable,  then  is  the  use 
of  poison  justifiable,  or  any  other  infamous  means  re- 
sorted to  in  the  worst  of  times,  by  the  worst  of  people, 
to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  incapacity  or  cowardice. 

They  are  in  themselves  a  confession  of  weakness  ;  a 
confession  of  our  inability  to  wage  this  war  to  success, 
except  by  means  of  treacherous  apts,  which  derive  no 
authority  from  virtue,  or  courage,  or  superior  numbers  ; 
and  against  which,  neither  virtue,  courage,  nor  superior 
numbers  can  always  be  secure. 

They  are  means  which  civilized  society  everywhere 
denounces,  as  it  denounces  the  assassin  and  the  pirate  ; 
they  are  every  way  detestable,  and  without  excuse. 

What  said  the  astonished  Camillus,  to  the  schoolmas- 
ter who  would  betray  the  children  of  the  Falerians  into 
his  hands  ? 

"Neither  the  people,  nor  the  commander  to  whom 
thou  hast  come,  thou  wretch,  with  thy  villainous  offer, 
are  like  thyself.  War,  indeed,  is,  of  necessity,  attended 
with  much  injustice  and  violence  ;  but  war  has  its  laws 
as  well  as  peace,  which  all  good  men  observe  ;  nor 
is  victory  so  great  an  object  with  us  as  to  induce 
us  to  incur,  for  its  sake,  obligations  for  base  and  im- 
pious acts.  A  great  general  should  rely  on  his  own 
virtues,  and  not  on  other  men's  vices. 

"  We  carry  arms,  not  against  persons  of  such  age  as 
these,  who,  even  in  the  storming  of  towns,  are  ex- 
empted from  injury  ;  but  against  men,  who  have  arms 
in  their  hands  as  well  as  ourselves,  those  thou  hast 
conquered,  as  far  as  in  thee  lay,  by  an  act  of  unex- 
ampled villainy,  I  shall  conquer  them  as  I  conquered 
Veii,  by  Roman  methods,  by  valor,  by  labor,  and  by 
arms." 

Saying  this,  he  ordered  rods  to  be  put  in  the  hands 
of  the  children,  the  man  to  be  stripped  and  scourged 
back  to  the  city. 

In  the  war  between  Caesar  and  Pompey,  the  latter 


13 


made  proclamation,  that  all  who  did  not  join  him 
should  be  treated  as  enemies.  Coesar,  on  the  contrary, 
proclaimed  that  all  who  did  not  join  the  enemy  should 
be  treated  as  friends. 

Which  was  the  better  or  the  wiser  man  was  shown  by 
the  result. 

Abbe  de  Marolles,  in  his  memoirs  of  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  says  : 

"  No  march  of  his  soldiers  ever  pillaged  a  single 
village,  much  less  desolated  whole  provinces." 

When  Bardolph  was  hanged  for  stealing  a  Pyx,  of 
little  price,  King  Henry  V.  said  : 

"We  would  have  all  such  offenders  cut  off,  and  we 
give  express  charge,  that,  in  our  marches  through  the 
country,  there  be  nothing  compeljed  from  the  villages, 
nothing  taken  but  paid  for  ;  none  of  the  French  up- 
braided or  abused  in  disdainful  language.  For  where 
lenity  and  cruelty  play  for  a  kingdom,  the  gentler 
gamester  is  the  soonest  winner." 

What  has  been  the  result  of  our  mode  of  warfare? 
Traverse  that  land  and  see.  Wherever  our  armies  or 
our  predatory  hordes  have  gone,  there  is  wide-spread 
desolation,  and  misery,  and  hate  ;  nothing  relieves  the 
terrible  monotony  of  the  picture,  save  the  patience,  the 
endurance,  the  fortitude,  of  its  people,  their  high  courage 
and  fixed  resolve  to  perish  rather  than  endure  the 
loathed  embraces  of  those  who  have  inflicted  such  in- 
juries and  sufferings  upon  them. 

But  we  have  not  finished,  would  that  we  had. 

When,  as  conquerors,  wo  have  entered  and  possessed 
a  city,  one  would  suppose  that  a  people  so  abounding 
in  the  highest  qualities  of  manhood  would  respect  the 
misfortunes  of  an  adversary  whom  war  had  placed  in 
their  power.  An  adversary,  whose  cause  we  may  feel 
bound  to  condemn  ;  but  whose  courage,  self-devotion, 
and  fortitude  in  defending  that  cause  we*  should  surely 
respect. 


14 


In  such  a  case,  all  wanton  signs  of  triumph  are,  of 
course,  suppressed;  there  is  an  exercise  of  magnanimity, 
moderation,  forbearance ;  every  available  means  of 
conciliation  are  resorted  to,  in  order  that  we  might 
have  a  speedy  return  to  that  state  of  harmony  so  essen- 
tial to  the  "  restoration"  we  profess  to  desire. 

Prudence,  if  not  manliness,  dictates  such  a  course. 

Neither  the  dictates  of  manliness  nor  of  prudence 
have  been  followed. 

The  insolence  of  triumph  has  characterized  our  con- 
quests, and  unmitigated  oppression  darkened  every  day 
of  our  dominion. 

The  occupation  of  New  Orleans,  for  instance,  will 
furnish  volumes  of  infamy.  . 

It  appears  to  have  been  the  design  of  the  authorities 
so  to  govern  that  city  as  to  goad  the  people  to  madness, 
and  furnish  pretexts  for  general  confiscation  and  exile. 

A  brutal  despotism  prevailed  there,  with  unlimited 
plunder,  and  prodigal,  shameless  living. 

Nothing  was  omitted  to  insult  and  degrade,  pillage 
and  distress,  which  the  ingenuity  of  little  minds,  coarse, 
cruel,  vulgar  natures,  and  bad  hearts  could  suggest. 

The  surrender  stipulated  for  the  protection  of  private 
persons  and  property.  And  yet  the  people  were  impover- 
ished by  forced  loans,  military  exactions,  fines,  forfeit- 
ures, and  downright  robbery.  They  were  forbidden  to 
earn  a  living,  except  on  terms  repugnant  to  conscience 
and  feeling. 

They  were  placed  at  the  mercy  of  spies,  eves-droppers, 
and  informers  ;  the  man  was  mad<3  to  betray  his  master, 
and  the  maid  her  mistress. 

Families  of  inoffensive,  helpless  people,  forbidden  to 
take  anything  away  but  the  clothes  they  wore,  were 
turned  out  of  comfortable  homes  in  order  that  some  low 
official  and  his  trull  might  be  installed  there. 

Severe,  degrading,  and  infamous  punishments  ;  a 
military  dungeon,  imprisonment  at  hard  labor,  with  ball 


15 


and  chain,  a  beggared  exile,  was  the  sentence  of  many 
hundreds  of  the  best  citizens,  for  the  expression  of  an 
opinion,  for  contumacy  and  contempt  in  refusing  to  ex- 
press an  opinion,  lor  the  attractions  of  a  bribe  or  a 
confiscation. 

There  was  no  defense  against  caprice,  or  vulgarity, 
or  cupidiiy,  or  malignity,  or  the  petty  exercise  of  power, 
or  against  any  sort  of  vileness,  unless  it  was  money. 

Innocence  was  no  security,  nor  weakness,  nor  sex, 
nor  age,  nor  dclicac'y,«or  virtue;  nothing  except  poverty. 

In  short,  the  rule  was  worthy  of  its  hero;  but  that 
we,  who  are  so  sensitive  to  the  opinions  of  mankind, 
should  loudly  proclaim  of  that  man  :  "  Well  done,  thou 
good  and  faithful  servant,"  and  should  confer  upon  him 
the  laurels  of  a  victor,  is  singular,  if  it  is  not  shameful. 
.  As  with  New  Orleans,  so,  in  proportion  to  its  size.* 
and  wealth,  has  it  been  with  Norfolk,  and  other  cities. 
It  is  a  painful  and  blasting  record,  not  one-tenth  part- 
of  which  can  be  disclosed  now. 

The  rule  of  the  civilized  world  toward  a  subjugated 
people  is,  that,  so  long  as  they  demean  themselves 
peaceably,  the}'  shall  be,  not  only  undisturbed,  but  pro- 
tected. We  adopt  a  different  plan.  To  live  peaceably, 
to  be  law  abiding,  to  fulfdl  all  the  duties  of  a  citizen, 
are  no  security  to  those  who  will  not  say  what  they  do 
not  mean,  nor  swear  what  they  can  not  intend. 

Is  this  union,  or  the  way  to  restore  it,  or  is  any  such 
union  worth  having? 

To  all  of  these  things,  guilty  actors  and  sordid  flat- 
terers answer  : 

"These  are  rebels,  and  rebels  have  no  rights;  no,  not 
to  wife,  nor  child,  nor  possessions,  nor  life,  nor  anything. 
Neither  have  wife,  nor  child,  nor  kindred,  any  rights." 

Such  is  the  language  of  Omnipotence,  or  of  blasphe- 
my !  Are  ye  God,  or  do  ye  stand  in  the  place  of  God  ? 
Is  it  by  you  these  "  rebels"  live  and  move  and  have 
their  being  ?    Is  it  your  breath  they  draw,  your  buu 


16 


they  enjoy  ?  Does  your  rain  water  the  earth,  and  were 
the  green  fields  spread  by  you  ?  Is  it  by  your  strength 
they  toil  and  gather  substance,  ye  pensioners  on  the 
bounty  of  an  hour  ? 

Rebels  have  no  rights  to  anything  derived  from  those 
against  whom  they  wrongfully  rebel;  further  than  this, 
your  proposition  has  no  right  to  go. 

Everywhere,  in  all  ages,  the  language  of  tyranny 
and  its  sycophants  has  been  the  same.  The  Parliamen- 
tary debates  of  England,  during  our  Revolutionary  War, 
would  furnish  suggestive  reading  for  the  present  day; 
for  then,  as  now,  there  were  those  who  said  that  "  rebels, 
had  no  rights."  We  will  quote  a  paragraph  from  a 
speech  of  John  Wilkes,  in  1775  : 

11  Whether  their  present  state  is  that  of  rebellion  or 
\)f  a  fit  and  just  resistance  to  unlawful  acts  of  power, 
resistance  to  our  attempts  to  rob  them  of  their  property 
and  liberties,  as  they  imagine,  I  shall  not  declare  ;  this 
I  know,  a  successful  resistance  is  a  revolution.  Rebel- 
lion, indeed,  appears  on  the  back  of  a  flying  enemy,  but 
revolution  flames  on  the  breastplate  of  the  victorious 
warrior." 

Of  all  the  people  in  the  world,  we  should  be  the  last 
to  say,  that  rebels  have  no  rights — for  shame  !  Cease 
trampling  on  the  graves  of  your  ancestors  and  my 
ancestors!  Cease  to  revile  those  sacred  memories,  to 
cast  contempt  on  our  most  venerable  traditions. 

Rebellion  !  Rebels  !  Memorable  words  1  All  over 
the  world,  in  every  tongue,  tyrants  know  them  well 
and  fear  them  greatly.  They  have  pulled  down  many 
a  haughty  throne;  stricken  the  fetters  from  many  a  mis- 
erable captive;  and  done  more  to  establish  truth  and 
right,  and  good  government,  to  deliver  mankind  from 
every  sort  of  darkness,  misrule,  and  oppression,  than 
all  the  principalities,  powers,  and  dominions  since  the 
Deluge. 

The  next  suggestion  is  addressed  to  your  resentment, 


17 


vexation,  and  pride  ;  it  is  an  artful  suggestion  :  "  What 
right  have  these  people  to  break  up  the  best  govern- 
ment that  ever  existed  ? 

Suppose  it  to  be  true  that  they  have  broken  up  the 
best  government  that  ever  existed,  does  that  create 
any  right  in  us  to  treat  tbem  as  wild  beasts  ;  to  seek 
their  extermination  ;  to  wipe  out  in  blood  and  smoke 
a  civilized,  Christianiaw^people  ?  No  ;  never.  Nature 
revolts  at  sucli  horrible  pretensions,  and  Nature's  God 
will  never  bless  them. 

But  let  us  consider  this  proposition  a  little.  Because 
this  is  the  best  government  that  ever  existed  for  the 
North,  does  it  follow  that  it  is  best  for  the  South  ?  And 
who  are  the  proper  judges,  we,  or  they  ?  Because  it  is 
the  best  for  us,  have  we  a  right  to  impose  it  on  those 
for  whom  it  is  not  the  best?  If  so,  what  becomes  of. 
the  right  to  resist  any  degree  of  oppression  and  tyran- 
ny, of  the  right  to  rebel  in  any  case  ?  What  becomes 
of  our  boasted  liberties,  of  our  right  of  self-government, 
of  our  Declaration  of  Independence  ? 

The  greatest  .despot  that  ever  lived  might  say  the 
same  thing  of  his  rebellious  subjects,  and  with  truth, 
for  it  might  well  be  the  best  government  in  the  world 
for  him. 

Was  it  ever  before  known,  heard,  or  read  of,  that  a 
community  of  eight  millions  of  people,  or  the  half  of 
that  number,  with  almost  perfect  unanimity,  persisted 
in  rejecting  "the  best  government  that  ever  existed," 
choosing  t">  encounter  every  peril  and  privation  rather 
than  submit  any  longer  to  it  ?  The  suggestion  is  too 
wild  and  irrational  to  deserve  a  thought. 

Is  that  "  the  best  government"  which  can  not,  or 
does  not,  keep  the  peace  between  its  members;  where 
there  is  perpetual  wrangling,  dispute,  and  danger  of 
open  violence  ? 

Can  that  be  the  best  government  where  one  portion 
of  the  people  perseveres,  offensively  and  injuriously,  in 


18 


meddling"  with  the  affairs  of  the  other  portion,  and 
insists  on  the  whole  being  governed  to  suit  its  own 
interest  and  prejudices,  regardless  of  others  ? 

Can  two  walk  together  except  they  be  agreed  ? 

It  is  the  struggle  of  selfishness  which  has  agitated 
the  wor  d  from  the  beginning,  old  as  right  and  wrong, 
oppression  and  resistance,  old  as  the  universal  appetite 
which  provokes  the  strong  to  devour  the  weak. 

During  our  Revolutionary  War,  the  armies  of  Great 
Britain ■  occupied  nearly  all  of  our  capital  cities,  from 
one  to  five  years,  they  were  quartered  in  many  of  our 
peaceful  inland  towns,  and  passed  through  a  large  ex- 
tent of  our  country. 

Suppose  that,  because  "  Rebels  had  no  rights,'-  and 
because  they  had  broken  up  "  the  best  government  that 
ever  existed,"  Great  Britain  had  made  as  merciless  a 
use  of  her  strength  as  we  have  made  of  ours,  where  and 
what  would  have  been  Boston,  Providence,  Hartford, 
New  Haven,  New  York,  Newark,  Princeton,  Philadel- 
phia, liarrisburg  ?  Where,  and  what  the  principal 
'  towns  and  villages  of  all  these  States?  In  what  con- 
dition would  they  have  left  this  land,  these  homes,  and 
the  heart*  of  the  people. 

There  were  not  wanting  advocates  for  such  a  course. 
Turn  to  the  sehool  books,  and  read  an  extract  or  two 
from  the  Earl  of  Chatham's  speeeh  against  employing 
Indians  in  the  watN 

"It  is  perfectly  justifiable,  says  a  noble  lord,  to  use 
all  the  means  that  God  and  nature  put  into  our  hands. 
I  am  astonished,  shocked,  to  hear  such  principles  con- 
fessed, to  hear  them  avowed  in  this  House,  or  even  in 
this  country  ;  principles  equally  unconstitutional,  in- 
human, and  unchristian. 

"  As  members  of  this  House,  as  men,  as  Christians,  ' 
we  are  called  upon  to 'protest  against  the  barbarous 
proposition. 

"  What  ideas  that  noble  lord  may  have  of  God  and 


19 


nature,  I  know  not;  but  I  know  that  such  abominable 
principles  are  equally  abhorrent  to  religion  and  hu- 
•  inanity. 

"Turn  forth  into  our  settlements,  among  our  ancient 
connections,  friends,  and  relations,  the  merciless  canni- 
bal, thirsting  for  the  blood  of  man,  woman,  and  child  ! 
Send  forth  the  infidel  savage  !  Against  whom  ?  Against 
your* Protestant  brethren,  to  lay  waste  their  country,  to 
desolate  their  dwellings,  and  extirpate  their  race  and 
name,  with  these  horrible  hell-hounds  of  savage  war  1" 

Again,  in  another  speech  he  says  : 

"  If  illegal  violences  have  been,  as  it  is  said,  com- 
mitted in  America,  prepare  the  way — open  the  door 
of  possibility — for  acknowledgment  and  satisfaction; 
but,  proceed  not  to  such  coercion,  such  proscription  ; 
cease  your  indiscriminate  inflictions;  amerce  not  thirty 
thousand  ;  oppress  not  three  millions  ;  irritate  them 
not  to  unappeasable  rancor  for  the  fault  of  forty  or  fifty. 
Such  severity  of  injustice  must  forever  render  incur- 
able the  wounds  you  have  inflicted.  What  though  you 
march  from  ^own  to  town,  from  province  to  province? 
What  though  you  enforce  a  local  and  temporaiw  sub- 
mission, how  sha  1  you  secure  the  obedience  of  the 
country  you  leave  behind  yon:  in  your  progress  ?  How 
grasp  the  dominion  of  eighteen  hundred  miles  of  conti- 
nent, populous  in  number,  strong  in  valor,  liberty,  and 
the  means  of  resistance  V 

Again,  John  Wilkes  :  "  I  call  the  war  with  our  breth- 
ren in  America  an  unjust  and  felonious  war,  because 
the  primary  cause  and  confessed  origin  of  it  is,  to  at- 
tempt to  take  their  money  (slaves)  from  them  without 
their  consent,  contrary  to  the  common  rights  of  all  man- 
kind, and  those  great  fundamental  principles  of  the 
English  Constitution,  for  which  Hampden  bled.  I  as- 
sert, Sir,  that  it  is  a  murderous  war,  because  it  is  an 
effort  to  deprive  men  of  their  lives  for  standing  up  in 
defense  of  their  property  and  their  clear  rights.  Such 


20 


,&  war,  I  fear,  Sir,  will  draw  down  the  vengeance  of 
Heaven  on  this  devoted  kingdom." 

A  few  years  ago,  the  speeches  from  which  these  ex- 
tracts have  been  taken  were  familiar  to  every  school- 
boy, the  sentiments  they  expressed  received  our  hearty 
assent  and  admiration.    It  is  no  longer  so. 

Many  will  deny  that  there  is  any  parallel  between 
our  Revolutionary  War  and  the  present  war. 
.  They  are  parallel,  as  far  as  you  have  any  right  to 
carry  the  comparison.    They  are  parallel  much  further 
than  is  necessary  to  secure  your  conviction. 

The  thirteen  colonies  formed  a  very  important  part 
of  the  British  Empire,  their  inhabitants  were  British 
subjects,  and  the  right  of  that  Government ^to  attempt 
their  conquest  and  subjugation  was,  at  least,  in  a  po- 
litical sense,  every  way  superior  to  any  right  we  have 
to  attempt  the  conquest  and  subjugation  of  the  people 
of  the  South.  They  are  not  our  subjects,  never  were, 
and,  we  trust,  never  will  be. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  carry  the  parallel  to  the 
rights  and  wrongs  of  the  respective  parties,  nor  to  their 
several  modes  of  warfare.  There,  indeed,'  all  compari- 
son is  deGed  by  the  extravagant  proportions  of  the 
present  case.  <* 

But  there  is  method  in  this  madness.  The  party 
which  controls  the  nation  and  manages  the  war  does 
not  intend  to  have  a  restoration  of  the  Union.  Their 
projects_aim  at  empire — some  kind  of  strong  govern- 
ment is  to  be  formed  in  which  the  people  are  to  have 
about  as  much  share  as  the  figures  in  a  puppet  show. 
The  precise  shape  of  that  government  will  depend  on 
circumstances,  but  the  plot  is  certainly  in  existence, 
and  working.  The  return  of  the  South,  as  equals,  would 
defeat  it ;  as  subjects  or  dependencies,  would  promote 
it ;  therefore,  subjugation  or  extermination  are  resorted 
to.  The  people  of  the  South  must  be  driven  to  extremi- 
ties, forced  into  perpetual  exile,  or  killed,  or  otherwise 


21 


ground  so  fine  as  to  be  impalpable.  Their  places  and 
possessions  are  to  be  occupied  by  what  are  called, 
"  the  sons  of  freedom,"  a  lank,  hairy"  hungry  race — livid 
importations  from  New  England.  They  may  be  called 
army  vultures,  who  do  very  little  of  the  fighting,  but  for 
whom  almost  all  of  the  fighting  is  done  ;  they  are  cun- 
ning dealers  in  famil}r  plate,  pictures,  jewels,  libraries, 
household  furniture,  pianos,  petticoats,  and  such  like 
contraband  of  war.  These  are  to  constitute  the  South- 
ern aristocracy.  The  serfs  are  already  provided;  four 
millions  of  stout,  acclimated  blacks,  who  have  already 
been  informed  that,  white  the  tenure  of  their  service  is 
changed,  their  obligation  u  to  serve  is  not  changed, n 
in  other  words,  that  they  have  only  changed  masters. 

Should  this  nice  little  extermination  plan  fail,  our 
imperialists  fall  back  on  the  next  best  thing 

Between  the  Njyrth  and  the  South  they  have  opened 
a  gulf  of  hatred,  loathing,  and  contempt,  which  can  not 
be  passed.  They  will  take  good  care  that  it  never  is 
filled  up.  Thus  the  unity  of  the  North  is  to  be  enforc- 
ed. Liberty  disappears  before  the  march  of  military 
power,  the  persuasive  influence  of  a  national  currency, 
a  national  banking  system,  a  national  debt,  national 
bonds,  national  imposts  and  taxes,  national  everything, 
is  to  complete  our  subjugation. 

New  England,  through  her  representation  in  the 
Senate,  is  to  continue,  as  now,  master  of  the  situation. 
Her  manufactures,  her  merchants,  and  her  ships  increase 
and  multiply,  the  war  goes  bravely  on,  till  Yankee  am- 
bition, avarice,  hatred,  and  fanaticism  have  free  course 
and  are  glorified. 

All  this,  be  it  remembered,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  in 
behalf  of  Liberty,  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Laws. 

Another  plea  for  peace  is  found  in  the  demoralizing 
influence  of  the  war  upon  society. 

It  distracts  and  divides  families  ;  it  separates  very 
friends.    It  makes  people  rogues,  cheats,  and  liars.  It 


22 


casts  a  blight  on  Christian  character,  and  opposes 
Christian  influence.  It  deadens  the  amiable  sensibili- 
ties, quickens  every  evil  passion,  encourages  the  most 
barbarous  sentiments. 

Three  short  years  ago,  who  would  have  believed  that 
the  refined,  delicate,  and  tender-hearted  women  cf  this 
land  could  be  so  transformed  as  to  exult  over  the  hor- 
rors of  this  war,  and  the  success  of  its  vilest  measures; 
or  that,  heretofore,  worthy  and  pious  men,  elders  and 
deacons  of  churches,  and  even  clergymen,  should  ap- 
prove, advocate,  exhort,  a  war  of  extermination  against 
a  people  of  the  same  race,  liberties,  civilization,  ami  re- 
ligion, including  a  vast  number  of  Christian  brethren 
and  ministers. 

Or,  that  citizens  of  New  York,  most  of  them,  in  pri. 
vate  life,  humane,  upright,  good  men,  could  volunteer 
public  honors  to  the  despot  of  New  Orleans  ;  one  who 
returned  from  the  scene  of  his  indefatigable  exploits 
loaded  with  plunder,  infamy,  and  the  execrations  of  an 
oppressed  and  ruined  people  ;  a  being  of  whom  it  may 
be  said,  without  exaggeration,  that  out  of  his  own  coun- 
try there  is  no  portion  of  the  civilized  globe  where  his 
presence  would  be  tolerated  ;  no,  not  even  in  Russia. 

Or,  that  there  could  be  found  anywhere  among  us, 
even  in  New  England,  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  feeding 
their  flo*cks  (by  night),  who  would  dare  to  point  to 
their  well -filled  shelves,  as  spoils  of  war  from  the  libra- 
ries of  ministerial  brethren  of  the  South,  and  to  the 
wearing  apparel  and  adornments  of  their  wives  and 
daughters,  as  contraband,  godly  confiscations  of  ward- 
robes belonging  to  ladies  of  the  South. 

"  Woe  to  thee  that  spoilest,  and  thou  wast  not  spoiled; 
and  dealest  treacherously,  and  they  dealt  not  treacher- 
ously with  thee. 

"  When  thou  shalt  cease  to  spoil,  thou  shalt  be 
spoiled;  and  when  thou  shalt  make  an  end  to  deal 
treacherously,  they  shall  deal  treacherously  with  thee." 


23 


We  make  great  pretensions  to  the  manly  qualities — 
among  these,  magnanimity  and  a  generous  courage 
stand  pre-eminent.  The  honor  of  nations,  the  peculiar 
glory  of  heroes  ;  they  soften  the  rigors  of  war,  and, 
more  invincible  than  arms,  consummate  its  victories. 

How  is  it  that  now  we  find  neither  time,  space,  nor 
occasion  for -the  practice  of  these  virtues  ? 

The  prevailing  temper  of  the  public  mind  is  ungener- 
ous and  revengeful,  fierce,  bloody,  and  implacable. 

We  triumph  with  bitter  and  unbecoming  exultation, 
alike  over  victories  on  the  field  of  battle  against  armed 
men,  and  victories  of  desolation  over  the  unarmed  and- 
defenseless.  Our  joy  is  dashed  by  no  touch  of  pity, 
remorse,  or  regret.  Flags  innumerable  stream  from 
window,  tower,  and  steeple;  there  are  bonfires,  illumi-  " 
nations,  fireworks  ;  the  people  throng  the  churches, 
.mingle  the  blood  of  brethren  with  their  sacrifice,  and 
give  God  thanks  in  a  spirit  better  suited  to  the  halls 
of  Odin  than  to  a  temple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Until  Cassar's  time,  Rome  refused  to  triumph  in  her 
civil  wars.  She  thought  them  occasions  for  grief, 
rather  than  occasions  for  rejoicing?  Caesar's  triumph 
was  one  of  the  causes  of  his  downfalL 

When  Israel  had  overcome  Benjamin,  "  the  people 
came  to  the  house  of  God,  and  abode  there  until  even, 
before  God,  and  wept  sore,  and  said: 

"  0  Lord  God  of  Israel,  why  is  4his  come  to  pass  in 
Israel,  that  there  should  be  to-day  one  tribe  lacking  in 
Israel." 

It  is  sad  to  reflect  that  this  condition  of  the  public 
mind  has  derived  its  chief  food  and  stimulus  from,  the 
great  body  of  the  Protestant  clergy  of  this  land.  That 
from  their  precept  and  behavior  it  receives  counte- 
nance, encouragement,  and  support. 

From  the  very  beginning  none  have  been  more 
prompt  to  enter  the  political  arena — "  cry  havoc,  and 
%i  slip  the  dogs  of  war     none  have  followed  up  the 


24 

war  with  more  eagerness  and  constancy  ;  none  have 
attended  the  Administration  with  more  obsequious 
steps,  nor  yielded  heartier  approbation  and  support  to 
its  most  extreme  and  questionable  measures  ;  lending 
to  it  and  to  them  all  the  influence  of  their  sacred 
character  and  functions.  Noue  have  done  more  to  call 
forth  the  worst  passions  which  this  war  has  gendered, 
and  none  have  done  so  much  to  consecrate  them. 

The  war  has  no  better  friends,  and  peace,  sweet 
peace,  no  worse  enemies  than  they.  1 

We  approach  this  subject  with  great  reluctance,  but 
we  can  not  avoid  it.  It  stands  in  our  path  ;  confronts  us 
at  every  turn,  with  menacing  aspect  and  determination. 

How  can  we  hope  to  reach  the  heart  or  the  judg- 
ment, when  man  points  to  those  who  absolve  him  for 
the  neglect  or  the  abuse  of  both  ?  How  hope  to  draw 
the  worldling  to  that  wisdom  whose  ways  are  pleasant- 
ness, and  her  paths  peace,  when  his  spiritual  adviser 
pulls  him  back  ? 

What  better  excuse  does  society  need,  for  the  in- 
dulgence of  plausible  errors  and  vices,  than  the  ex- 
ample and  precepts*of  those  who  speak  in  God's  name, 
and  assume  to  declare  his  will. 

Reverend  fathers  and  brethren,  we  address  you  in 
sorrow  rather  than  in  anger.  Ye  know  not  what  ye 
do.  Ye  have  allowed  yourselves  to  be  committed  to 
this  bloody  business*  by  a  vociferous  patriotism,  which 
is  no  patriotism  at  all,  but  rank  treachery  to  country 
and  to  laws — a  patriotism  which  is  all  impiety,  selfish-, 
ness,  and  infidelity.  ^ 

If  this  were  a  war  of  self-defense,  your  relations  to 
it  and  to  society  would  be  very  different  from  what 
they  are  ;  but  it  is  not.  It  is  a  war  of  aggression  ; » 
a  «war  of  fanaticism,  hatred,  and  revenge  ;  a  war  of 
covetousness  and  ambition  ;  a  war  of  conquest  and 
subjugation  ;  a  war  for  government  and  empire.  It 
is  an  unrighteous  war,  for  an  unrighteous  purpose, 


25 


waged  in  an  unrighteous  and  savage  manner.  You 
can  not  support  it  without  being  partakers  of  its 
guilt — accomplices  in  all  its  crimes. 

Are  men  so  lamblike,  so  patient  and  long-suffering, 
so  full  of  love,  so  averse  to  all  violence,  that  even  from 
the  sanctuary  they  must  be  harangued,  aroused,  ex- 
cited, and  dismissed  to  deeds  of  slaughter  ?  Angels 
and  ministers  of  grace,  defend  us  I 

You  have  a  commission  to  preach  peace  and  good- 
will.   You  have  no  commission  to  preach  war. 

What  have  you  to  do  with  the  rude  contentions  of 
men,  but  to  assuage  them  ? 

Your  Master's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.  When 
you  mingle  in  its  strifes,  you  oppose  his  authority  and 
example. 

When  you  employ  your  holy  office  in  such  a  busi- 
ness, you  dishonor  both  it  and  Him  in  whose  name  you 
assume  to  stand. 

Put  up  thy  sword  ;  it  suits  not  with  the  cross. 

We  have  listened  with  pained  hearts  as  you  dictate, 
now  to  God,  and  then  to  your  congregation,  in  behalf 
of  this  "  holy  war,"  and  against  this  "  accursed  rebel- 
lion"— these  wicked  rebels,  "  the  sons  of  Belial." 

"  God  is  the  God  of  battles,"  therefore,  say  you,  it 
is  our  right  and  duty  to  invoke  his  blessing  on  this 
war  and  on  all  its  measures. 

And  it  has  been  well  attested  to  us,  that  one  of  you, 
more  blasphemous  than  his  fellows,  after  reading  to  his 
congregation  the  curses  of  David,  closed  the  book  with 
this  remark  :  M  If  he  did  not  believe  that  these  prophe- 
cies were  intended  for  the  South,  he  would  not  accept 
the  Bible  as  God's  Word." 

Is  such  language  and  behavior  calculated  to  allay 
the  general  heat,  or  to  aggravate  it ;  to  subdue  the  pas. 
sions,  or  to  stimulate  them  ? 

Is  such  the  sort  of  food  on  which  you  fatten  the  lambs 
of  your  flock  for  Heaven  ?    Happy  lambs! 
2 


26 


God  is  the  God  of  battles  I  Where  do  you  find  this 
written  ?  Not  in  the  Bible.  But  throughout  that 
sacred  book  it  is  proclaimed,  in  repeated  and  rejoic- 
ing numbers,  that  He  is  the  God  of  peace  .and  recon- 
ciliation. Why  do  ye  deify  war  ?  And  why  do  ye  per- 
vert the  Scriptures  ? 

God  is  the  God  of  battles,  not  in  any  special  sense, 
but  as  he  is  the  God  of  everything — even  of  hell. 

But  because  God  is  the  God  of  battles,  does  it  follow 
that  it  is  our  right  and  duty  to  invoke  his  blessing  on 
the  war  and  on  all  its  measures  ?  What  chop  logic  is 
this  ?  If  the  war  is  a  righteous  war,  and  the  measures 
taken  for  its  prosecution  are  righteous  measures,  we 
have  a  right  to  invoke  and  expect  his  blessing  on  them 
both  ;  therefore, 

It  is  our  duty  to  take  our  cause  before  God,  seek  his 
counsel  and  direction  ;  ask  him  to  bless,  defend,  and 
prosper  the  right. 

We  are  not  to  put  words  into  the  mouth  of  the  Al- 
mighty ;  not  to  prejudge  our  cau"se,  enter  judgment 
in  our  own  favor  ;  come  into  his  presence  with  a  copy 
of  the  decree,  and  demand  a  writ  of  execution. 

In  a  general  sense,  then,  God  is  the  God  of  battles 
and  of  war,  therefore  he  is.  the  judge  of  both  ;  sooner 
or  later  he  will  judge  those,  who,  for  years,  have  plot- 
ted and  labored  night  and  day  to  foment  discord  among 
brethren,  and  bring  about  the  present  evil  times. 

"  This  Holy  War  I"  "  From  whence  come  wars  and 
fightings  amongst  you  ?  Come  they  not  hence,  even  of 
your  lusts  that  war  in  your  members." 

"  Accursed  rebellion  1"  "  Wicked  rebels  I*  "  Sons 
of  Belial !" 

What  right  have  you,  speaking  in  Christ's  name,  to 
employ  such  rude  language  as  this  ? 

All  wickedness  is  the  violation  of  God's  law.  He  it 
is,  and  not  man,  who  declares  wherein  such  violation 
consists.    Where  in  the  Bible  is  there  a  definition  of 


27 


these  terms,  or  an  illustration,  or  a  precept,  which  au- 
thorizes the  use  of  them  in  fanning  the  fires  of  an 
accursed  strife? 

Is  it  found  in  the  language  of  Abraham  to  Lot :  "  Let 
there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee, 
and  between  my  herdmen  aud  thy  herdmeu,  for  we  be 
brethren.  Separate  thyself,  I  pray  thee,  from  me.  If 
thou  wilt  take  the  left  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  right  ; 
or,  if  thou  depart  to  the  right  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the 
left  r 

Is  it  found  in  the  narrative  of  that  rebellion  in  which 
Lot  was  engaged  when  taken  captive  and  rescued  by 
Abraham  ;  who  slew  his  captors,  and  thereupon  re- 
ceived the  blessing  of  Melchisedek,  the  priest  of  the 
Most  High  God  ? 

Or  in  the  repeated  rebellions  of  the  Israelites 
against  the  Egyptians,  the  Canaanites,  the  Midianites, 
and  others  ?  Or  in  that  celebrated  revolt  of  the  ten 
tribes  ? 

The  uarrative  of  that  revolt  deserves  your  special 
notice.  If  political  preachers  were  so  inclined,  what 
a  sermon  could  be  written  upon  it,  and  what  parallels 
drawn  ! 

The  ten  tribes,  excepting  a  remnant  gathered  in  Je- 
rusalem, were  agriculturists.  During  Solomon's  luxu- 
rious aud  expensive  reign,  they  had  suffered  from  severe 
taxation  and  other  burdens  ;  for  then,  as  now,  labor  had 
to  support  capital. 

On  the  accession  of  "Rehoboam  to  the  throne,  they 
came  to  him,  saying  :  "  Thy  father  made  our  yoke 
grievous  ;  now,  therefore,  ease  thou  somewhat  the 
grievous  servitude  of  thy  father  and  his  heavy  yoke 
that  he  put  upon  us,  and  we  will  serve  thee. 

"And  Rehoboam  consulted  with  the  old  men  that  had 
stood  before  Solomon,  his  father,  and  they  counseled 
him,  saying  : 

"  U  thou  wilt  be  a  servant  unto  this  people,  and  wilt 


28 


serve  them,  and  answer  them,  and  speak  good  words  to 
them,  then  they  will  be  thy  servants  forever." 

But  he  forsook  the  counsel  of  the  old  men,  and  con- 
sulted with  the  young  men  that  were  grown  up  with 
him,  men  of  his  own  party,  and  according  to  their  coun- 
sel he  answered  the  people  roughly  ;  denied  them  all 
redress,  and  threatened  still  greater  burdens,  saying  : 

"  My  little  finger  shall  be  thicker  than  my  father's 
loins." 

When  all  Israel  saw  that  the  king  hearkened  not 
unto  them,  they  said  : 

"What  portion  have  we  in  David?  Neither  have 
we  inheritance  in  the  son  of  Jesse.  To  your  tents,  0 
Israel  \» 

So  Israel  rebelled  against  the  house  of  David  unto 
this  day. 

But  Rehoboam  was  not  disposed  to  abandon  his  gov- 
ernment over  Israel,  for  we  find  that  he  sent  to  them  a 
tax  collector,  Adoram,  who  was  over  the  tribute,  and 
they  killed  him  ;  and  it  appears  that  they  did  not  even 
respect  the  person  of  the  king,  for  we  read  that  Reho- 
boam made  speed  to  get  him  up  to  his  chariot,  to  flee  to 
Jerusalem. 

What  had  occurred  "  fired  the  heart"  of  the  king,  and 
confirmed  his  resolution  to  bring  back  the  tribes  which 
had  seceded  from  him  ;  for  he  straightway  gathered  a 
mighty  army,  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  chosen 
men,  which  were  warriors,  to  fight  against  the  house 
of  Israel,  to  bring  the  kingdom  again  to  Rehoboam. 
But  the  word  of  God  came  to  Shemaiah,  the  man  of  God, 
saying  : 

"  Speak  unto  Rehoboam,  the  son  of  Solomon,  King  of 
Judah,  and  unto  all  the  house  of  Judah  and  Benjamin, 
and  to  the  remnant  of  the  people,  saying  : 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Ye  shall  not  go  up,  nor  fight 
against  your  brethren,  the  children  of  Israel,  for  this 
thing  is  from  me." 


29 


Can  you  find  any  authority  for  your  behavior  in  the 
sermon  on  the  mount,  or  elsewhere,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ?    Where  ? 

Whatever  were  the  merits  of  this  war  at  the  begin- 
ning whatever  were  then  its  objects  or  pretended  ob- 
jects ;  whatever  question  there  then  was  of  its  right- 
eousness ;  it  lias,  since  then,  been  put  beyond  question, 
and,  so  far  as  one  of  the  parties  to  it  is  concerned,  be- 
yond merit. 

On  our  part  it  has  become  a  war  of  extermination. 

On  the  part  of  our  adversaries  it  has  become  a  war 
for  their  lives,  their  families,  their  homes,  their  pro- 
perty, their  altars,  and  their  graves  ;  a  war  for  their 
civil  rights  and  liberties.  They  fight  for  everything 
which  renders  life  desirable  ;  for  all  that  is  calculated 
to  inspire  the  soul,  exalt  the  courage,  iuvigorate  the 
defense.  They  fight  by  the  glare  of  their  burning  vil- 
lages and  wasted  fields  to  stay  the  march  of  desolation. 

If  all  this  does  not  make  their  cause  righteous,  and 
our  cause  wicked,  then  is  moral  sense  confounded,  and 
language  has  lost  its  meaning. 

Wo  are  pretty  familiar  with  the  reasons  you  give  for 
your  coarse.  They  are  all  of  the  earth,  earthy;  political 
reasons,  every  one  of  them. 

When  our  Saviour  said,  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the 
things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are 
God's,  he  did  not  undertake  to  determine  what  were 
Cnosar's,  he  came  for  no  such  purpose  ;  in  another  place 
we  read,  that  he  submitted  to  a  wrong,  paid  unjust 
tribute,  rather  than  make  any  disturbance.  Are  you 
better  and  wiser  than  he  ?  And  have  your  studies  and 
mariner  of  life  been  such  as  to  qualify  you  to  propound 
and  determine  grave  political  propositions  ? 

Without  hazarding  an  opinion  on  such  a  delicate 
subject,  we  will  briefly  notice  some  of  the  reasons,  or 
excuses  referred  to. 

You  tell  us  "  the  laws  must  be  obeyed."    This  was 


30 


the  argument  of  the  Jews  to  Pilate  :  "  We  have  a  law, 
and  by  that  law  he  ought  to  die."  It  was  the  language 
of  the  Inquisition.  It  has  been  the  language  of  tyranny 
and  persecution  all  the  world  over.  Despotism  gene- 
rally moves  with  a  retinue  of  forms  and  ceremonies, 
and  in  the  name  of  law  and  government. 

"  Wisdom  is  better  than  weapons  of  war,  and  mercy 
is  better  than  sacrifice."  * 

Again  :  "  The  life  of  the  nation  is  at  stake."  What  ? 
Can  the  life  of  a  nation,  by  any  possibility,  consist  in 
the  desolation  of  a  country  as  extensive  as  all  Europe, 
and  the  extermination  of  its  inhabitants  ? 

Was  ever  such  a  hecatomb  to  "  the  life  of  the  nation" 
conceived  of  before?  If  this  be  the  life  of  the  nation, 
surely  it  will  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  humanity  for  ages. 

The  life  of  a  nation  is  in  the  life  of  its  people,  their 
happiness  and  affections.  A  government  which  is  not 
founded  on  these,  deserves  to  stand,  no,  not  for  a  single 
day. 

Again  :  "The  Union  must  be  preserved."  This  argu- 
ment served  pretty  well  for  a  season,  but  now,  we  pre- 
sume, it  has  ceased  to  impose  upon  even  the  most  cred- 
ulous of  your  number  ;  for  those  in  whose  train  yqu  are 
have  spoken  very  plainly  what  they  do  not  intend  to 
have,  we  wish  they  would  be  as  explicit  in  saying  what 
they  do  intend  to  have. 

The  Union,  as  it  was  transmitted  to  us — a  union  of 
freemen,  of  equals,  friends  ;  a  union  of  reciprocal  rights 
and  interests,  of  fidelity,  of  honor,  of  justice,  and  har- 
mony— a  union  strong  through  the  virtuous  enjoy- 
ment of  liberty,  Ueloved  by  its  citizens,  respected  by  its 
friends,  feared  by  its  enemies — all  good  men  would  con- 
sider to  be  among  the  greatest  of  earthly  benefits. 

But  a  union  of  masters  and  subjects,  of  unequals,  of 
enemies,  of  discords  and  differences,  of  perpetual  hatred, 
revenge,  and  strife  ;  a  union  of  oppression,  with  suffer- 
ing— of  fierce  exultation,  with  bitter  abasement  ;  a  union 


31 


with  abject  ruin  on  the  one  hand,  and  arrogant  pros- 
perity on  the  other  ;  a  union  strong  through  its  con- 
quests over  rights  and  liberties  ;  a  union  abhorred  by 
one  third  of  its  own  people,  respected  by  no  power  on 
the  globe,  and  feared  only  by  the  weak  ;  a  union  bear- 
ing the  seeds  of  its  own  confusion — such  a  union  as 
this  presents  an  unnatural  and  loathsome  conjunction  ; 
it  would  deserve  to  be  rejected  from  among  the  nations, 
even  as  Heaven  rejected  the  devil  and  his  angels. 

Here,  reverend  fathers  and  brethren,  we  leave  you> 
If  we  have  said  anything  harsh,  we  regret  the  necessi- 
ty as  much  as  any  one  possibly  can. 

You  have  compelled  this  discussion,  by  an  unwar- 
rantable and  pernicious  meddling  in  secular  political 
affairs. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord:  I  have  not  sent  these  prophets, 
yet  they  ran  ;  I  have  not  spoken  to  them,  yet  they  pro- 
phesied. But  if  they  had  stood  in  my  counsels,  and 
caused  my  people  to  hear  my  words,  then  should  they 
have  turned  from  their  evil  ways,  and  from  the  evil  of 
their  doings." 

Peace  hath  other  enemies  besides  those  already  no- 
ticed. 

There  are  those  whose  property  is  engaged  in  the  war, 
and  who  think  their  pecuniary  safety  involved  in  its 

success. 

The  time  is  coming,  when  they  will  realize  the  truth 
of  the  proverb  :  "Better  is  a  little  with  righteousness, 
than  great  revenues  without  right." 
'  As  this  war  is  now  conducted,  it  must  involve  the 
whole  country  in  social,  political,  and  pecuniary  ruin, 
whether  it  succeed  or  fail. 

The  vast  paper  baloon  in  which  you  ride  so  high, 
must  come  down  some  day,  the  sooner  that  event  occurs 
the  lighter  will  be  your  fall,  and  the  quicker  your  re- 
covery. 

There  are  those  who  live  and  profit  by  the  war.  Their 


32 

name  is  legion,  and  they  swarm  daily  ;  most  of  these 
are  insensible  to  any  other  argument  than  that  which  is 
addressed  to  the  pocket.  If  you  point  to  the  storm 
which  is  coming,  it  only  makes  them  all  the  busier.  They 
must  make  hay  while  the  sun  shines. 

There  are  those  who  are  opposed  to  a  government  of 
equals,  who  are  opposed  to  any  union  which  does  not 
lean  to  their  side,  who  want  a  strong  government  of 
which  they  are  masters.  We  have  already  referred  to 
these  people.  They  are  mainly  of  New  England,  or 
New  England  descent  and  traditions. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War,  it  became  manifest 
that  Massachusetts  fought  for  independence,  but  not  for 
Republican  liberty.  Her  preference  was  for  a  monarch- 
ical form  of  government.  This  preference  took  a  more 
decided  shape  at  the  close  of  the  war,  in  what  was  known 
as  the  Federal  or  black  cockade  party,  of  which  John 
Adams,  then  Vice-President,  was  the  chief.  Mr.  Adams 
became  President  in  H97,  and  forthwith  exerted  all  the 
power  of  his  administration  to  give  effect  to  his  favorite 
policy.  The  press  was  muzzled  ;  the  editors  punished, 
by  fine  and  imprisonment,  for  opposing  the  measures  of 
the  Federalists  ;  freedom  of  discussion  was  interfered 
with  ;  a  standing  army  was  raised,  under  pretext  of 
a  war  with  France  ;  no  Democrat  was  to  be  trusted  ; 
enormous  taxes  and  stamp  duties  were  laid.  It  was, 
in  many  respects,  the  history  of  the  past  three  years, 
in  miniature. 

The  Constitution  well  undermined,  it  was  expected 
that  there  would  be  no  barrier  to  consolidation  ;  the  es- 
tablishment of  privileged  orders,  offices  for  life,  and 
even  hereditary  succession. 

From  that  time  to  the  present,  that  Federal  party, 
under  various  names,  has  been  in  existence  and  work- 
ing. 

The  Embargo  Act  was  made  a  pretext  for  a  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Union,  and  a  union  with  Canada,  under  the 


33 


protection  of  the  British  Crown.  Then  came  the  pur- 
chase of  Louisiana,  it  also  was  a  grievance,  calling"  for 
dissolution  and  a  monarchy. 

There  was  a  plan  formed  for  a  separate  government 
in  New  England,  to  extend,  if  practicable,  so  as  to  in- 
clude Pennsylvania.  The  States  were  to  be  secured 
through  their  governors  and  legislators  ;  the  Legisla- 
tures were  to  repeal  the  laws  authorizing  the  people 
to  elect  representatives  to  Congress  ;  they  were  to  de- 
cline electing  senators  ;  and  thus,  gradually,  the  States 
were  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  and  set  up  for  them- 
selves. 

The  people  were  instigated  to  forcible  resistance  to 
the  Administration,  and  juries  after  juries  acquitted 
the  culprits.  A  separation  was  openly  discussed  and 
stimulated  in  the  public  prints,  and  a  convention  of 
delegates  from  the  New  England  States  was  intended 
and  proposed. 

In  November,  1808,  John  Quincy  Adams  was  a  pri- 
vate citizen,  residing  in  Boston.  Mr.  Giles,  and  several 
other  members  of  Congress,  wrote  to  him  confidential 
letters  on  the  state  of  affairs.  In  his  answer,  he  was 
led  to  enlarge  upon  the  views  and  purposes  of  certain 
leaders  of  the  party  which  had  the  management  of  the 
Legislature  in  their  hands,  he  said :  "  That  their  object 
was,  and  had  been  for  several  years,  a  dissolution  of 
the  Union  and  the  establishment  of  a  separate  confed- 
eration, he  knew  from  unequivocal  evidence,  although 
not  provable  in  a  court  of  law,  and  that,  in  case  of 
civil  war,  the  aid  of  Great  Britain  would  be  as  surely 
resorted  to,  as  it  would  be  indispensably  necessary  to 
the  design." 

In  Mr.  Adams'  letter,  in  defense  of  this  statement,  he 
says  :  "  That  project,  I  repeat,  had  gone  to  the  length 
of  fixing  upon  a  military  leader  for  its  execution;  and, 
although  the  circumstances  of  the  time  never  admitted 
of  its  execution,  nor  even  of  its  development,  I  had  yet 
2* 


34 


no  doubt,  in  1808  and  1809,  and  have  no  doubt  at  this 
time,  is  the  key  to  all  the  great  movements  of  those 
leaders  of  the  Federal  party  in  New  England'from  that 
time  forward  to  its  final  catastrophe  in  the  Hartford 
Convention." 

The  next  witness  is  John  Henry,  a  British  secret 
agent,  employed,  in  1809,  in  the  New  England  States, 
but  more  especially  at  Boston.  His  business  was  to 
foment  disaffection  to  the  General  Government ;  to  in- 
trigue for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  resistance  to 
the  laws,  and  eventually,  in  concert  with  a  British 
force,  to  destroy  the  Union  and  bring  the  eastern  part 
thereof  into  a  political  relation  with  Great  Britain. 

Henry  was  received  in  New  England  with  great 
heartiness  and  hospitality  ;  he  testifies  fully  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  plot,  and  the  hostile  designs  of  the  Federal 
party  ;  his  correspondence  is  full  and  interesting  ;  it 
will  be  found  in  the  third  volume  of  the  American  Re- 
view, and  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Abridged  Debates  of 
Congress,  by  John  C.  Reeves. 

It  was  this  same  party  which  caused  New  England 
to  oppose  the  Government  in  the  war  of  1812  ;  to  do 
all  in  her  power  to  thwart,  retard,  defeat,  its  successful 
prosecution  ;  to  adhere  to  our  enemies,  giving  them 
aid  and  comfort. 

The  Boston  banks  endeavored  to  defeat  the  Govern- 
ment loans,  by  draiuing  the  Middle  and  Southern 
States  of  their  specie.  A  great  portion  of  this  specie 
was  drawn  into  the  British  Provinces,  to  pay  for  gov- 
ernment bills,  and  for  smuggled  goods  ;  or  forwarded 
to  the  agents  of  the  Government  of  Canada.  Commer- 
cial intercourse  with  the  enemy  was  carried  on  with- 
out attempt  at  concealment. 

A  combination  was  formed  to  prevent  Congress  rais- 
ing money  for  the  war.  Those  who  would  subscribe 
to  the  loans  were  denounced  in  the  public  prints  as 
infamous. 


35 

On  motion  of  the  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  (in  18G2  a 
lively  war  man)  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts  resolved 
that  they  could  not  pass  a  vote  of  thauks  to  Captain 
Lawrence,  for  the  capture  of  the  Peacock,  "it  being 
considered  by  them  as  an  encouragement  and  incite- 
ment to  the  continuance  of  the  present  unjust,  imneces- 
sar}%  and  iniquitous  war."  And  also  resolved,  "  As 
the  sense  of  the  Se'nate  of  Massachusetts,  that  in  a  war 
like  the  present,  waged  without  justifiable  cause,'  and 
prosecuted  in  a  manner  which  indicates  that  conquest  and 
ambition  are  its  real  mtjtiivs,  it  is  no't  becoming  a  moral 
and  religious  people  to  express  any  approbation  of 
military  or  naval  exploits  which  are  not  immediately 
connected  with  our  sea-coast  and  soil." 

In  this  connection,  we  notice  that  New  England  was 
exempted  from  the  enemy's  blockade,  and  all  other 
hostile  proceedings  : 

June  1,  1813,  Commodore  Decatur,  with  his  fleet,  was 
chased  into  the  harbor  of  New  London,  by  a  greatly  su- 
perior force,  and  there  closely  blockaded  to  the  close  of 
the  war.  Twice,  in  tempestuous  weather,  he  endeavored 
to  elude  the  blockaders  and  get  to  sea  ;  each  time  he 
was  foiled  by  treason  from  the  shore,  signaling  the 
British,  fleet  by  blue-lights,  which  were  answered  by 
the  firing  of  guns. 

Said  the  Boston  Gazette:  "  Is  there  a  patriot  in  Ame- 
rica who  considers  it  his  duty  to  shed  his  blood  for 
Bonaparte,  for  Madison,  for  Jefferson,  and  that  host  of 
ruffians  in  Congress  who  have  set  their  faces  against  us 
for  years,  and  spirited^up  the  brutal  part  of  the  populace 
to  destroy  us  ?  Not  one.  Shall  we  any  longer  be  held 
in  slavery  and  driven  to  desperate  poverty  by  such  a 
graceless  faction  ?    Heaven  forbid  1" 

Said  another  Boston  journal  :  "  To  the  cry  of  dis- 
union, the  plain  and  obvious  answer  is,  that  the  States 
are  already  sqiarated.  The  bond  of  the  Union  is  already 
broken  by  President  Madison." 


36 


Nor  were  the  clergy,  the  Third  House,  or  the  House 
of  Lords,  idle  on  that  occasion.  Their  highest  powers 
of  denunciation  and  abuse  had  full  exercise  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Great  Britain. 

Says  the  Rev.  Elijah  Parish,  D.  D.,  in  a  discourse 
delivered  at  Byfield,  April  7,  1814  : 

"  The  Israelites  became  weary  of  yielding  the  fruits 

of  their  labor  to  pamper  their  splendid  tyrants.  They 

left  their  political  woes.    They  separated.    Where  is 

our  Moses  ?  Where  is  the  rod  of  his  miracles  ?  Where 
» 

is  our  Aaron  ?  *  *  *  Such  is  the  temper  of  the 
American  republic,  so  called,  a  new  language  must  be 
invented  before  we  attempt  to  express  the  baseness  of 
their  conduct,  or  describe'  the  rottenness  of  their 
hearts.  *  *  *  New  England,  if  invaded,  would  be 
obliged  to  defend  herself.  Do  you  not,  then,  owe  it  to 
your  children,  and  owe  it  to  your  God,  to  make  peace 
for  yourselves  ? 

"  How  will  the  supporters  of  this  anti-Christian  war- 
fare endure  their  sentence  ;  endure  their  own  reflec- 
tions ;  endure  the  fire  that  forever  burns,  the  worm 
which  never  dies,  the  hosannahs  of  Heaven,  while  the 
smoke  of  their  torments  ascends  forever  and  ever  V 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Osgood,  of  Medford,  in  a  discourse 
preached  June  27,  1812,  said  : 

"  His  mind  was  in  a  constant  agony  at  the  guilt  of 
the  war — its  outrages  against  heaven  ;  against  aJl 
truth,  honesty,  justice,  goodness  ;  against  all  the  prin- 
ciples of  social  happiness.  Were  not  the  authors  of 
this  war,  in  character,  nearly  akin  to  the  deists  and 
atheists  of  France  ?  Were  they  not  men  of  hardened 
hearts,  seared  consciences,  reprobate  minds,  and  des- 
perate wickedness  ? 

"  If,  at  the  command  of  weak  or  wicked  rulers,  they 
undertake  an  unjust  war,  each  man  who  volunteers  his 
services  in  such  a  cause,  or  loans  his  money  for  its 
support,  or  by  his  conversation,  his  writings,  or  any 


37 


other  mode  of  influence,  encourages  its  prosecution,  that 
man  is  an  accomplice  in  the  wickedness  ;  leads  his 
conscience  with  the  blackest  crimes  ;  brings  the  guilt 
of  blood  upon  his  soul,  and,  in  the  sight  of 'God  and  his 
laws,  is  a  murderer." 

The  Rev.  J.  S,  Gardiner,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
Boston,  July  23,  1812,  offered  off  as  follows  : 

"  It  is  a  war  unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
wantonly  proclaimed  on  the  most  frivolous  and  ground- 
less pretenses,  against  a  nation  from  whose  friendship 
we  might  derive  the  most  signal  advantages. 

u  Let  no  consideration  whatever,  my  brethren,  deter 
you  at  all  times,  and  in  all  places,  from  execrating  the 
present  war.  As  Mr.  Madison  has  declared  war,  let 
Mr.  Madison  carry  it  on. 

"  The  Union  has  been  long  since  virtually  dissolved, 
and  it  is  full  time  that  this  part  of  the  dis-United 
States  should  take  care  of  itself." 

We  next  come  to  the  Hartford  Convention.  It  as- 
sembled 15th  December,  1814,  remained  in  session 
twenty  days,  and  made  a  report,  accompanied  by  a 
series  of  resolutions.  From  the  report  we  extract  a 
few  cardinal  paragraphs  : 

"  If  the  Union  be  destined  to  dissolution,  by  reason 
of  the  multiplied  abuses  of  bad  administration,  it 
should,  if  possible,  be  the  work  of  peaceful  times  and 
deliberate  consent.  Some  new  form  of  confederation 
should  be  substituted  among  those  States  which  shall 
intend  to  maintain  a  federal  relation  to  each  other." 

"  Whenever  it  appears  that  these  causes  are  radical 
and  permanent,  a  separation  by  equitable  arrangement 
will  be  preferable  to  an  alliance  by  constraint  among 
nominal  friends,  but  real  enemies,  inflamed,  by  mutual 
hatred  and  jealousy,  and  inviting,  by  intestine  divisions, 
contempt  and  aggression  from  abroad." 

"  In  case  of  deliberate,  dangerous,  and  palpable  in- 
fractions of  the  Constitution,  affecting  the  sovereignty 


38 


of  a  State,  and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  it  is  not  only 
the  right,  but  the  duty  of  such  a  State  to  interpose  its 
authority  for  protection  in  a  manner  best  calculated  to 
secure  that  Snd" 

"  When  emergencies  occur,  which  are  either  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  judicial  tribunals,  or  too  pressing  to  admit 
of  the  delay  incident  to  their  forms,  States  which  have 
no  common  umpire  must  be  their  own  judges,  and  exe- 
cute their  own  decisions" 

Every  one  of  the  New  England  States  was  represent- 
ed in  this  convention. 

The  Federalist  merged  in  the  old  Whig  party,  they 
in  the  Republican,  all  having  the  same  commercial, 
manufacturing,  and  shipping  interests  to  protect,  and 
all  pursuing  the  same  policy.  It  is  a  policy  of  exclu- 
sive benefits  and  protections,  as  if  the  many  were  made 
for  the  few,  the  poor  for  the  rich,  the  producer  for  the 
non-producer. 

They  constitute  your  monopolists  of  every  kind;  they 
have  been  continually  pressing  such  changes  in  the 
character  of  our  Government  as  would  secure  their  su- 
premacy, and  convert  the  nation  into  a  close  political 
corporation  for  their  especial  benefit. 

For  the  Union  they  care  nothing,  except  as  it  coin- 
cides with  their  interests. 

In  1812,  it  was  impious  to  carry  on  war  against  a 
foreign  enemy.    Why  ?    It  was  against  their  interest. 

In  1864,  it  is  impious  to  make  peace  with  your*  own 
brethren.    It  is  against  their  interest. 

Greediness  and  ambition  are  at  the  root  of  the  whole 
matter. 

In  1843,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  resolved, 
that,  because  Texas  was  annexed,  Massachusetts  was 
out  of  the  Union.  /  . 

On  the  1st  of  February,  1850,  a  New  Hampshire 
senator  presented  a  petition,  praying  for  a  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Union,  and  it  received,  in  the  Senate,  the 


39 


votes  of  John  P.  Halo,  Win.  H.  Seward,  and  Salmon  P. 

Chase.  * 

In  the  House :  of  Charles  Allen,  Massachusetts ; 
Charles  Durkee,  Wisconsin;  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  Ohio; 
R.  K.  Goodenovv,  Maine;  G.  W.Julian,  Indiana;  Preston 
W.  King',  New  York,  and  I.  M.  Root,  Ohio.  All  men  of 
this  Federal  Republican  party. 

The  same  party  it  was  which  so  bitterly  opposed  the 
Mexican  war.  Horace  Greeley  called  our  soldiers  "jour- 
neymen cut-throats,"  and  Thomas  Corwin  hoped  "  they 
might  be  met  with  bloody  hands,  and  welcomed  to 
hospitable  graves." 

In  1858,  said  Governor,  now  Major-General  N.  P. 
Banks,  the  blushing  hero  of  Louisiana,  said  : 

"  I  can  conceive  when  this  Constitution  shall  not  be 
in  existence.  When  we  shall  have  an  absolute  military 
.  dictatorial  government,  transmitted  from  age  to  age, 
with  men  at  its  head  who  are  made  rulers  by  military 
commission,  or  who  claim  an  hereditary  right  to  gov- 
ern those  over  whom  they  are  placed." 

All  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party  can  tell  you, 
in  the  words  of  Mr.  Stevens:  "  that  this  talk  of  restor- 
ing the  Union  as  it  was,  under  the  Constitution  as  it  is, 
is  one  of  the-  absurdities  which  I  have  heard  repeated 
until  I  have  become  about  sick  of  it."  Or,  in  the  words 
of  Vice-President  Hamlin  :  "  We  have  a  class  of  men 
amoug  us  in  Maine,  who  very  much  want  the  Constitu- 
tion as  it  is,  and  the  Union  as  it  was.  *  *  *  I  am 
very  sorry,  indeed,  that,  they  can  not  have  it.  There 
is  no  possible  way  in  which  they  can  have  it.  It  is  a 
mere  demagogism,  mere  clap-trap;  it  is  nonsense;  it  is 
not  very  good  nonsense." 

There  are  acts  which  speak  louder  than  words:  the 
revolutionary,  imperial  designs  of  the  Republican  party 
— the  attempted  subjugation  of  States  by  force  of  arms 
— the  decrees  of  the  Executive,  especially  that  concern- 
ing the  recognition  of  State  governments,  on  the  appli- 

) 


40 


cation  of  one-tenth  of  their  voters — the  subordination 
of  the  civil  to  the  military  power.  And  here  we  would 
call  attention  to  the  promptness  with  which  the  afore- 
said Major-General  Banks  has  inaugurated  the  new 
dictature,  by  proclaiming  in  Louisiana:  "  That  military 
law  is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land."  The  open 
denial  or  disregard  of  State  rights;  military  conscrip- 
tion; contempt  of  the  Constitution,  as  exhibited  in  the 
creation  of  a  State  out  of  Western  Virginia;  making 
paper  money  a  legal  tender  for  the  payment  of  debts; 
repeated  and  outrageous  violations  of  personal  liberty, 
and  many  other  instances. 

There  is,  then,  that  extensive  system  of  national 
legislation  to  which  we  already  referred. 

Everything  that  is  done,  legislative  and  executive, 
judicial  and  military,  tends  to  the  absolute  dependence 
of  the  whole  country,  and  of  all  the  States,  on  a  grand 
central  government,  whose  Executive  has  already  been 
invested  with  absolute  powers,  by  an  act  of  Congress 
which  exempts  his  acts  from  judicial  investigation ;  him 
and  his  minions  from  punishment. 

The  land,  the  very  air,  are  full  of  the  sounds,  sights, 
and  omens  of  despotism,  and  its  significant  menace 
may  be  read  in  the  name  of  the  iron  war  ship  now  ly- 
ing at  our  docks  :  Dictator  !  May  she  sink  at  her 
moorings  unless  that  name  bo  changed. 

We  will  close  the  proof  on  this  point,  by  quoting  from 
an  editorial  in  a  certain  number  of  the  New  York  Daily 
Times,  headed,  "  The  Conscription  a  National  Benefit 

"Yet  it  is  a  great  national  blessing  that  the  con- 
scription has  been  imposed.  It  is  a  matter  of  prime 
concern  that  it  should  now  be  settled,  once  for  all, 
whether  this  Government  is,  or  is  not,  strong  enough  to 
compel  military  service  in  its  defense. 

u  More  than  any  other  thing,  this  will  determine  our, 
durability  as  a  republic  [1],  and  our  formidableness  as 
a  nation. 


41 


"  Once  established,  that,  not  only  the  property,  but 
the  personal  military  services  of  every  able-bodied  citi- 
zen is  at  the  command  of  the  national  authorities,  con 
stitutionally  exercised  [!],  and  both  successful  rebellion 
and  successful  invasion  are  at  once  made  impossible 
for  all  time  to  come. 

"  From  that  time  it  will  be  set  down  as  a  known  fact, 
that  the  United  States  is  the  most  solidly  based  [de- 
based [!]  government  on  the  face  of  the  ea^th." 

If  this  be  not  military  despotism,  what  is  it  ? 

These  conspirators  against  the  republic,  have  trav- 
eled fast  and  far,  but  they  do  not  feel  quite  secure, 
Peace,  even  now,  might  frustrate  all  their  plots.  War 
is  necessary  to  insure  their  success. 

Ye  Union  shriekers  I  Ye  denouncers  of  this  unholy, 
damnable,  causeless  rebellion  I  Ye  worshipers  of  the 
institutions  of  our  fathers  1.  Ye  adorers  of  the  sacred 
flag !  Ye  contemners  of  "  that  accursed  doctrine  of 
State  rights  !"  Ye  fierce  promoters  of  this  holy  war  ! 
Ye  Federalists  and  descendants  of  Federalists,  what 
think  you  of  the  record  ? 

The  last  of  the  enemies  to  peace,  whom  we  shall  men- 
tion, are  the  Abolitionists. 

This,  also,  is  an  old  breed,  hailing  from  that  land  of 
consolation,  New  England,  aforesaid. 

When  the  Puritans  first  settled  in  that  country  they 
found  it  necessary  to  commit  a  good  many  acts  of  cru- 
elty and  injustice  against  the  natives  and  owners  of  the 
soil.  It  was  thereupon  deemed  expedient  to  give  the 
Colonies  the  character  of  a  sacred  mission.  So  the  colon- 
ists became  the  chosen  people,  like  unto  the  Israelites 
in  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  their  mission  was  to  drive 
out  the  heathen,  kill  or  make  captive,  and  possess  their 
lands.  From  that  time  forth  this  way  of  thinking  be- 
came a  peculiarity  of  the  Puritan  character.  Their 
theology,  their  school  of  morals,  their  conscience,  are 
always  found  on  the  best  of  terms  with  their  interest. 


42 


The  Puritans  bad  need  of  slaves,  and  the  Indians 
made  good  slaves,  for  want  of  better.  Then  came  the 
negro  ;  he  was  much  more  tractable  and  every  way 
more  useful  than  the  Indian,  so  the  Indian  was  ship- 
ped to  the  West  Indies  and  sold  ;  it  was  their  duty 
to  deliver  the  land  from  the  heathen.  The  proceeds 
of  the  sales  answered  for  an  adventure  to  Africa  ;  the 
outward  cargo  was  well  invested  in  a  lot  of  benighted 
Africans  for  home,  who  were  thus  brought  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Gospel. 

This  negro  trade  grew  and  prospered.  Our  traders 
dealt  wjth  all  parts  of  the^country,  and  all  the  colonies 
were  pretty  well  stocked  with  slaves.  During  all  this 
time  it  never  entered  into  the  minds  of  our  friends  that 
slavery  was  a  sin,  or.  anything  unusual  ;  their  slaves  ■ 
were  strictly  governed,  sold  at  auction,  reclaimed,  when 
runaway,  by  Fugitive  Slave  Laws,  and  everything  else 
of  that  sort. 

In  the  convention  which  framed  the  articles  of  the 
Confederation  of  1778,  the  North  proposed  a  tax  on 
population,  and  that  slaves  should  be  included  in  the 
estimate.  To  this  the  South  objected,  that  slaves  were 
property,  sold,  bought,  and  paid  for  as  such.  John 
Adams  replied  : 

u  It  is  of  no  consequence  by  what  name  you  call  your 
people,  by  that  of  freemen  or  of  slaves  ;  the  difference 
as  to  states  is  imaginary  only  ;  in  some  countries  the 
laboring  poor  are  called  freemen,  in  others  they  are 
called  slaves  ;  but  the  difference  as  to  state  is  imagin- 
ary only.  What  matters  it  whether  the  landlord,  em- 
ploying the  laborers  on  his  farm,  give  them  annually  as 
much  money  as  will  buy  them  the  necessaries  of  life,  or 
gives  them  those  necessaries  at  short  hand  V 

In  the  next  convention,  onr  friends  found  it  convenient 
to  consider  slaves  as  property,  and  such  they  insisted 
on  their  being  considered. 

In  that  convention,  the  votes  of  New  England,  not- 


43 


withstanding  the  protests  of  Virginia,  Delaware,  and 
other  Middle  States,  fastened  the  African  slave-trade 
upon  the  country  for  twenty  years  ;  and  it  was  the 
people  of  New  England  who  carried  that  slave-trade 
on.  \ 

Massachussetts  was  the  first  to  find  out  that  negroes 
were  not  profitable,  and  the  first  to  dispose  of  them.  In 
due  time,  her  example  was  followed  by  the  other  North- 
ern States  5  Emancipation  Laws  were  passed  ;  the 
great  bulk  of  the  marketable  negroes  were  sent  South 
and  sold  ;  the  foreign  slave-trade  had  expired  by  lim- 
itation of  law  ;  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  made  out 
of  that  business,  and  the  account  was  closed  ;  but 
another  account  was  soon  opened — the  Abolition  ac- 
count. 

This  had  its  origin  in  political  jealousy  of  the  South. 
It  has  been  fostered  by  ambition,  covetousness,  sec- 
tional hatred,  and  sustained  under  the  pretense  of  re- 
ligion, philanthropy,  and  patriotism. 

The  only  sincere  and  consistent  Abolitionists  that  we 
know  of  are  to  be  found  in  the  society  of  Friends  ;  to  be 
sure,  they  are  sentimentalists,  and  know  little  or  noth- 
ing of  the  mischiefs  they  deplore,  whether  they  are 
real  or  unreal,  or  what  degree  of  exaggeration  there  is 
in  them  ;  but  they  are,  in  the  main,  honest  ;  they  do 
not  seek  to  do  evil,  that  fancied  good  may  come  ;  they 
did  not  slaughter  the  Indians,  that  they  might  possess 
their  lands  ;  nor  did  they  ever  make  domestic  slaves  of 
them,  nor  sell  them  into  foreign  bondage  ;  they  never 
were  engaged  in  the  African  slave  trade  ;  nor  did  they 
ever,  that  vvc  know  of,  sell  their  domestic  slaves  away 
off  South  ;  give  a  title,  take  the  money,  then  turu 
round,  deny  the  ownership,  and  denounce  the  owner. 

We  would  not,  for  a  moment,  liken  these  people,  mis- 
taken though  they  be,  to  that  New  England  creature 
bearing  the  name  of  Abolitionist,  which  is  all  hypocrisy 
and  all  cruelty  ;  which  these  many  years  has  enriched 


44 


itself  from  the  profits  of  all  the  crimes  it  assumes  to 
denounce  ;  and  more  ! 

Prate  not  to  us  of  a  sincerity  and  benevolence,  or  of 
a' religion,  which  urges  on  its  terrible  crusade  of  free- 
dom, reckless  of  consequences,  like  another  Jugger- 
naut in  its  bloody  progress,  with  a  tumultuous  crowd  of 
fierce  idolators  enjoying  the  sacrifice. 

Pernicious  infidels  that  ye  are,  in  politics  as  in  morals. 
Ye  learn  nothing,  deny  everything,  and  are  false  to  the 
bottom  of  your  hearts.  You  can  not  create,  but  you 
can  destroy,  and  leave  society  amid  the  ruins  ;  per- 
fectly willing  to  set  the  world  in  a  blaze,  if  you  can 
roast  your  eggs  by  the  fire. 

The  chief  men  and  apostles  of  this  sect  are  what  is 
called  preachers,  a  very  peculiar  and  privileged  peo- 
ple ;  whatsoever  they  bind  on  earth  is  bound  in  heaven, 
and  whatsoever  they  loose  on  earth  is  loosed  in  heaven. 
To  them  all  things  are  remitted,  and  they  can  remit  all 
things,  whether  it  be  fidelity  to  God,  to  country,  or  to 
laws.  In  matters  of  abuse,  anathema,  and  denunciation, 
they  claim  a  prescriptive  right  and  exercise  the  largest 
liberty.  They  rave  prodigiously,  and,  like  the  losing 
Pythoness  of  old,  froth  and  mutter  fearful  rhapsodies. 
They  are  exceeding  wroth  and  righteous  against  an  in- 
stitution of  which  they  know  nothing,  except  as  it  ex- 
isted among  themselves  ;  to  them  slavery  is  "  the  sin 
of  all  sins  f  "  the  sum  of  all  villainies  "  that  ac- 
cursed thing  ;"  "  the  spawn  of  hell  and  child  of  the 
devil."  They  would  dethrone  Deity,  and  tell  you  that  if 
God  ever  established  human  bondage  he  is  no  God  of 
theirs  ;  that  a  religion  which  recognizes  human  bond- 
age is  no  religion  of  theirs. 

Who  and  what  their  god  is,  we  can  not  certainly 
say  ;  their  inclinations  are  various  and  fickle.  As  a 
general  rule,  whatever  claims  affinity  with  that  which 
they  style  "  self-evident  truths,"  is  sentimental,  emo- 
tional,•'passional,  and  the  like,  may  expect  an  altar 


45 


and  a  statue  in  their  pantheon,  which  is  the  pantheon 
of  "  moral  development." 

The  present  object  of  their  worship  is  a  huge  con- 
glomerate of  false  sentiments  and  vile  passions  ;  a 
dark,  repulsive,  obscene  monster,  which  reminds  us  of 
the  abominable  figures  of  pagan  idolatry.  It  is  an  in- 
satiable beast,  thirsty  and  gluttonous,  though  particu- 
lar. Its  drink  is  blood — rivers  of  blood  ;  and  for  meat 
it  devours  the  people  and  their  substance,  to  the  rav- 
ishing harmony  of  lamentation,  woe,  and  bitterness. 
The  whole  land  is  now  busy  feeding  this  divine  crea- 
ture ;  he  becomes  grosser  and  more  beastly  every  day, 
yet  never  is  satisfied,  but  ravenous  still. 

Such  are  some  of  the  enemies  to  our  peace. 

But  why  are  all  these  people  so  restress — so  labo- 
rious ?  Why  do  they  resort  to  every  contrivance  of 
artifice  and  misrepresentation  ?  Why  do  they  compass 
sea  and  land  with  apologists,  seeking  for  proselytes  ? 
Why  are  they  so  eager  in  protestation  ;  so  vociferous 
and  declamatory  ;  so  intolerant  of  opposition  and  so 
bitter  ?  Why  so  suspicious  and  fearful  ?  Why  do  they 
see  King  Richard  in  every  bush  ? 

u  Row  is  it  with  me,  when  every  noise  appalls 
me  ?" 

Innocence  fs  not  wont  to  be  thus  disturbed  ;  nor  is 
a  good  cause  so  very  malignant,  apprehensive,  and  im- 
portunate. 

It  is  the  bloody  business  which  informs  against 
them.  They  are  fearful  and  troubled  in  their  own 
minds.;  their  vision  is  perplexed.  Like  Belshazzar 
they  dread  to  see  the  hand-writing  on  the  wall.  They 
tremble.  The  joints  of  their  loins  are  loose,  and  their 
knees  smite  one  against  another. 

An  evil  conscience  will  not  let  them  rest.  The  pro- 
phetic spectre  of  a  ruined  country  stalks  in  grim  ma- 
jesty before  them.  The  voice  of  their  brother's  blood 
calls  out  against  them  from  the  ground. 


46 


Success  is  the  only  relief  they  have  ;  and,  what  a 
desperate  relief  that  is  !  Through  blood,  breast  high— 
an  Egyptian  plague  of  blood — and,  beyond  that,  re- 
morse, recrimination,  hatred,  strife,  darkness.  Yet, 
they  must  not,  dare  not,  fail,  if  all  the  powers  of  hell 
be  called  to  aid  them  ;  for  failure  is  perdition  ;  it  pre- 
cipitates that  period,  sure,  to  come,  when,  with  Cain, 
they  will  be  compelled  to  cry  out :  "My  punishment  is 
greater  than  I  can  bear.  Behold,  thou  hast  driven  me 
out  this  day  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  from  thy 
face  shall  I  be  hid  ;  and  I  shall  be  a  fugitive  and  a 
vagabond  upon  the  earth  ;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass 
that  every  one  that  findeth  me,  shall  slay  me  V1 

In  what  we  have  said,  are  there  not  found  persuasive 
arguments  for  peaces-sweet  peace  ? 

Some  will  laugh  to  scorn  the  dangers  we  have  de- 
clared. They  will  point  to  our  prosperity  as  never  so 
great.  Trust  it  not,  it  is  unnatural,  deceitful,  and  one 
day  will  be  swept  off  as  with  a  breath.  JTis  like 
flowers  which  bloom  in  the  crater  of  a  slumbering 
volcano. 

Some  will  point  to  our  resources  as  infinite  ;  to  our 
strength  and  energy  ;  to  that  combination  of  national 
power  which  never  yet  has  been  withstood. 

Remember,  that  to  all  things  there  is  ari  end.  Thus 
Athens  trusted,  and  Carthage,  and  Rome,  and  many 
others.    Their  trust  betrayed  them,  and  they  fell. 

Others,  agitated  by  emotions  of  a  different  character, 
chagrined,  overpowered,  by  the  magnitude  of  the  evils 
which  have  befallen  the  land  of  our  love  and  pride, 
seek  their  resolution  in  despair — follow  the  counsels  of 
that  dark  spirit,  who, 

"  Rather  than  be  less,  cared  not  to  be  at  all." 

The  sentiment  was  worthy  of  the  soil.  We  adopt 
no  such  forbidding  determination.  It  may  suit  the 
spendthrift,  the  gambler,  the  suicide.    It  is  not  fit  for 


47 


men.  Hurl  such  counsels  back  to  the  place  from 
whence  they  came. 

"  If  thou  faint  in  the  day  of  adversity,  thy  strength 
is  small." 

No  one  can  tell  what  is  before  us.  The  present  is 
terrible,  and  humiliating.  The  future  looks  dark,  very 
dark.  Our  country  is  divided — whether  again  to  bo 
united,  God  knoweth  ! 

Suppose  it  prove  otherwise  ;  have  we  not  territory 
enough  for  the  most  ambitious  ?  Augustus  Csesar 
voluntarily  withdrew  his  legions  and  curtailed  the  em- 
pire. 

The  result  verified  bis  sagacity  and  judgment.  It 
consolidated  the  power  and  prolonged  the  existence  of 
Rome. 

Great  Britain  lost  nothing  when  she  lost  the  Colo- 
nies. She  exchanged  troublesome  subjects  for  pro- 
fitable allies. 

Behold  this  extended  north  land,  it  is  ours  to  possess; 
this  fertile  soil,  it  is  ours  to  improve  ;  this  salubrious 
climate,  it  is  ours  to  enjoy  ;  these  highways  to  the 
sea  ;  these  spacious  harbors  ;  these  embraciug  oceans  ; 
this  great  and  industrious  people  ;  these  useful  neigh- 
bors ;  these  moral  and  intellectual  enjoyments  ;  these 
precious  gifts  of  law,  liberty,  and  religion.  Are  all 
these  nothing,  that  they  are  to  be  abandoned  to  despe- 
rate resolves  ? 

The  madness  of  the  times  will  pass  away,  and  better 
men  will  come  to  light. 

"  What  constitutes  a  State  ? 
Not  high  raised  battlements,  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall,  or  moated  gate  ! 
Nor  cities  proud,  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  proud  navies  ride; 
Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 
No  !  Men— high-minded  men — men  who  their  duties  know, 
But  know  their  rights,  and,  knowing,  dare  maintain ; 
These  constitute  a  State  !" 

If  we  are  to  continue  under  the  domiuion  of  our  pas- 


48 


sions,  the  sooner  this  wretched  carnival  closes  the 
better  ;  for  the  end  must  come.  Our  nation  will  fall, 
and  her  liberties  be  driven  forth  as  evil  spirits,  to  grope 
among  the  tombs  of  abused  departed  greatness. 

Fellow-citizens,  turn  from  those  who  clamor  for  un- 
sparing and  perpetual  war — destruction  and  misery 
are  in  their  path. 

Listen  to  the  voice  of  reason,  conscience,  and  human- 
ity. Listen  to  the  sounds  of  woe  from  those  war-smitten 
regions.    Listen  to  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  and  • 
charity.    Listen  to  the  admonitions  of  prudence  and 
sound  judgment. 

Listen  to  the  voice  of  the  revolutionary  fathers,  as  it 
sounds  from  their  consecrated  graves,  pleading  with 
you  :  Spare,  ye  children  !  Oh,  spar,e!  for  the  sake  of  the 
sacrifices  we  have  made  in  Freedom's  cause,  for  all  of 
you.  The  temple  which  at  great  cost  we  reared,  why  do 
ye  thus  pollute  and  destroy  ?  Blast  not  our  memories 
with  fratricidal  strife  1  Drench  not  our  graves  with 
fratricidal  blood  !  Was  it  for  this  we  periled  fortune, 
life,  and  sacred  honor?  For  this  we  toiled  and  suffered, 
in  winter's  withering  cold,  and  summer's  blasting  heat  ? 
For  this  we  offered  up  our  lives  on  many  a  desperate- 
deadly  field  ?  Forbear!  By  all  that  is  sacred  in  the  past, 
dear  in  the  present,  hopeful  in  the  future  ;  in  the  name 
of  your  common  humanity;  your  common  religion;  your 
common  liberties,  we  command  you,  to  forbear  ! 

Listen  to  the  voice  of  angels  singing  :  Peace  on  earth 
and  good-will  toward  men. 

Listen  to  Christ,  the  great  teacher  :  Blessed  are  the 
peace-makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of 
God. 


lEx  IGtbns 


seVmour  durst 

4  po* 


